Shaina Richmond

For Britta - Volume One Shaina Richmond

her final month of pregnancy, Susie uses her time on bed rest to relay tales of her life to her soon-to-be-born daughter, Britta. Susie was fifteen years old when her mother passed away. Five years later, she learned that her paternity was a lie. Motivated by the recent loss of a friend, Susie starts a journal with the hope that, in the unfortunate case of her own untimely passing, her precious daughter will not be forced to draw her own conclusions about her mother's life. Susie's thoughts turn to the summer of 1999, when she was a fourteen-year-old outcast. As punishment, her father sends her to church camp where she encounters the boy who ruined her reputation with lies the previous summer. When he goes too far to get her attention, a twenty-three-year-old hero named Jerry Lyons steps in, sweeping Susie off her feet in the process. After a few private talks in his cabin, Susie leaves camp desperately in love with Jerry, and hopeful that he will overlook her age and give her a chance to be more than his secret friend, but he soon breaks her heart. Susie is distracted from her pain when she lands her first job, working alongside her mother, Priscilla. With her domineering father out of town, Susie gets closer to Priscilla and learns surprising new information about her.