Fifteen years ago, Willow
Alexander was jilted at the altar by her high school sweetheart, Graham Currie,
who left their wedding rehearsal the night before knowing he would not be
returning the next day.
Confused and devastated, Willow
remains in the small town of Glenmor in Cape Breton, caring for her ailing
parents and nursing her heartache. What no one knows is that Willow lost more
than her marriage on that shocking day, which is why she remains on her
family’s expansive property, in the shadow of Christy’s Mountain, unable to let
go of the secret she has kept hidden for more than a decade.
Soon after her fortieth birthday,
Willow finds out that Graham is returning to town, without his new wife, after
years of working as a doctor in New York City. As Willow grapples with her
emotions, wondering how she will deal with Graham’s arrival, tragedy strikes
again: her dear friend, Kathleen, and her husband, local doctor James
Millhouse, are found dead. Willow was the last one to see the couple on the
night they died and fears that she may have accidently had a hand in their
deaths.
Fearing both Graham’s return and her
own imminent arrest, Willow holes up in her family home, reflecting on her past
and bracing for her uncertain future. The
Girl He Left Behind is a moving story about how confronting life’s greatest
uncertainties is often the only way forward.
BEATRICE MACNEIL is the bestselling author of Where White Horses Gallop, which was longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award; Butterflies Dance in the Dark; Keeper of Tides; The Geranium Window; and her short story collection, The Moonlight Skater. She received the Tic Butler Award for outstanding contribution to Cape Breton writing and culture, and has won the Dartmouth Book Award on three occasions. The Girl He Left Behind is her fifth novel. Beatrice MacNeil lives in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.