A reluctant homecoming, buried family secrets, and the fragile work of choosing one another before time runs out.
(By Olive S. Stevens / for Just Reading Nook)
Edited by Gaius Konstantine
In Finding Sutton’s Choice, Brenda Haas delivers a clear-eyed, emotionally resonant family drama that transforms a difficult medical diagnosis into a story of reluctant homecoming and hard-won reconciliation. Charlotte Sutton, a thirty-something advertising copywriter in Pittsburgh, returns to the lakeside Ohio community of her childhood after learning that her estranged father, Chuck—a local celebrity and retired athlete—has been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. She intends a brief, practical visit. What she encounters instead is a tangle of old resentments, long-buried family secrets (including the unexpected presence of a fourteen-year-old half-brother), and a close-knit waterfront town that refuses to let her remain a spectator.
Haas writes with crisp clarity, sharp wit, and a strong sense of place. The historic resort community of Lakeside and the shifting moods of Lake Erie feel as lived-in and layered as the characters themselves. Charlotte’s defensive, cynical journey and Chuck’s blend of charm, pride, and growing vulnerability are rendered with particular depth and compassion. The novel’s central strength lies in its refusal to sentimentalize either dementia or family repair; the healing is gradual, imperfect, and earned.
If the pacing occasionally eases in the middle chapters as community scenes and secondary threads briefly take the foreground, those moments ultimately deepen the novel’s texture rather than dilute it. The result is a highly readable, original work that is emotionally powerful without tipping into melodrama—a polished and memorable exploration of second chances, memory, and the fragile work of choosing one another before time runs out.
Rating: 5 Stars. Readers who love family dramas, small-town settings, and stories of second chances will find much to treasure here. Recommended without hesitation.
Rating: ★★★★★ Exceptional
Finding Sutton’s Choice (2025)
Women’s Fiction
Available in eBook and Paperback
ABOUT THE BOOK
Olive Stevens is an agency copywriter and managing editor of Just Reading Nook. She also writes book features and news articles.
You can follow her at x /@olivesstevens
