Catching Heaven

Maud Maxwell, just past forty, is an actress who has not made it in Hollywood. Tired of the struggle, fed up with a going-nowhere relationship, sad that she hasn't had the children she thinks she wants, Maud takes off for Marengo, the New Mexico town where her younger sister Lizzie lives.

Lizzie, a painter who thought she'd be famous and live in Paris, supports herself and her three children (by three different fathers) by selling her paintings to a greeting card company. Lizzie is sometimes weary of her responsibilities and envies what she believes is Maud's free and glamourous life. While Maud settles happily in Marengo, Lizzie has an angry sense that Maud has taken over her life. Then Jake Arboles returns home to Marengo, after two years away, eager to start again with Lizzie and be a father to their child. But Lizzie is resistant, and the presence of Maud in town will further complicate their lives.

"Catching Heaven" is a rich and vibrant novel that captures the ever-changing landscape of family and those who define it.