The Restoration of Celia Fairchild: A Novel

Summary

From the USA Today and New York Times bestselling author of The Book Club for Troublesome Women comes a sharp, funny, and sisterhood-fueled story about a woman who dispensed wisdom to the world — and then had to find some of her own.

"Wise, witty, and utterly compelling." — JANE GREEN, New York Times bestselling author

Celia Fairchild, known as advice columnist ‘Dear Calpurnia’, has insight into everybody’s problems – except her own. Still bruised by the end of a marriage she thought was her last chance to create a family, Celia receives an unexpected answer to a “Dear Birthmother” letter. Celia throws herself into proving she’s a perfect adoptive mother material – with a stable home and income – only to lose her job. Her one option: sell the Charleston house left to her by her recently departed, estranged Aunt Calpurnia.

Arriving in Charleston, Celia learns that Calpurnia had become a hoarder, the house is a wreck, and selling it will require a drastic, rapid makeover. The task of renovation seems overwhelming and risky. But with the help of new neighbors, old friends, and an unlikely sisterhood of strong, creative women who need her as much as she needs them, Celia knits together the truth about her estranged family — and about herself.

Funny, wise, and brimming with the joy of female friendship, The Restoration of Celia Fairchild is a story about what happens when the woman with all the answers finally asks the right questions.