Lulu knows how to survive. Now she's learning how to want more.
Lulu Kowalski has gotten good at making a life out of very little.
In a fading Pennsylvania coal town, she is raising her six-year-old daughter, working hard and holding tightly to the routines that have kept them both safe. For a long time, that's been enough. But an unlikely relationship and a new job bring unexpected possibilities, and Lulu begins to imagine a life beyond simply getting by.
When a frightening encounter brings memories crashing back, the fragile stability she's worked so hard to build starts coming apart. Old fears return, and so does the temptation to escape them in ways she knows too well.
Even as things begin to unravel, Lulu discovers an unexpected gift for putting words on paper. What begins as a way of making sense of her own life may open doors she never knew existed.
The Paper Queen is a moving, ultimately hopeful literary novel about motherhood, recovery, love and the unexpected pleasure of finding your own voice.
