A Hundred Small Lessons

A Novel

Ashley Hay

• Publisher: Atria Books
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN:
  9781501165146
• eBook ISBN:
  9781501165153
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Literature General
• Index: Literature

Through the richly intertwined narratives of two women from different generations, Ashley Hay, known for her "elegant prose, which draws warm and textured portraits as it celebrates the web of human stories" ( New York Times Book Review ) weaves an intricate, bighearted tale of the many small decisions—the invisible moments—that come to make a life. "Readers who loved the quiet introspection of Anita Shreve's The Pilot's Wife and Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kitteridge will enjoy the detailed emotional journeys of Hay's characters. Their stories will linger long after the final page is turned" ( Library Journal ). When Elsie Gormley falls and is forced to leave her Brisbane home of sixty-two years, Lucy Kiss and her family move in, eager to make the house their own. Still, Lucy can't help but feel that she's unwittingly stumbled into an entirely new life—new house, new city, new baby—and she struggles to navigate the journey from adventurous lover to young parent.In her nearby nursing facility, Elsie traces the years she spent in her beloved house, where she too transformed from a naïve newlywed into a wife and mother, and eventually, a widow. Gradually, the boundary between present and past becomes more porous for her, and for Lucy—because the house has secrets of its own, and its rooms seem to share with Lucy memories from Elsie's life.Luminous and deeply affecting, A Hundred Small Lessons is a "lyrically written portrayal" ( BookPage, Top Pick) of what it means to be human, and how a place can transform who we are. It's about a house that becomes much more than a home, and the shifting identities of mother and daughter; father and son. Above all else, this is a story of the surprising and miraculous ways that our lives intersect with those who have come before us, and those who follow.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Dedication
• Epigraph
• Chapter 1: Elsie’s House
• Chapter 2: The Clock
• Chapter 3: The Pendulum
• Chapter 4: The Wedding
• Chapter 5: The Call
• Chapter 6: The Sitting
• Chapter 7: The Family
• Chapter 8: The Photographs
• Chapter 9: The Crow
• Chapter 10: The River
• Chapter 11: The Intruder
• Chapter 12: The Astronaut
• Chapter 13: The Portrait
• Chapter 14: The Flood
• Chapter 15: The Doilies
• Chapter 16: The Kiss
• Chapter 17: The Little Blue Bird
• Chapter 18: The Photograph
• Chapter 19: The Flowers
• Chapter 20: The Function
• Chapter 21: The Visit
• Chapter 22: The Princess
• Chapter 23: The Curlews
• Chapter 24: The Candle
• Chapter 25: The Planetarium
• Chapter 26: The Time Lapse
• Chapter 27: Lucy’s House
• Acknowledgments
• Reading Group Guide
• About the Author
• Copyright