Smiling at Shadows [Paperback]

A woman returns to her childhood home after decades away, only to find the past isn't as buried as she thought. Old secrets surface, family myths unravel, and the house itself seems to hold memories in its walls. This is quiet, reflective fiction that sits with grief, guilt, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive. The kind of book that asks: what do we owe the people who shaped us, and what do we owe ourselves? It moves slowly, deliberately, letting you sink into the atmosphere of a place haunted not by ghosts but by choices. For readers who loved *The Light Between Oceans* or anything by Kate Morton — stories where family secrets are the real plot and every room holds a revelation.