Harriet Wolf's Seventh Book of Wonders

A sweeping saga about a three generations of women wrestling with family secrets, including an unpublished novel by the family’s reclusive matriarch.

New York Times Notable Book of 2015

“A mesmerizing tale of star-crossed love and of the dark secrets in a fracturing family. . . . It leaves you haunted, amazed, and, like every great read, irrevocably changed.” —Caroline Leavitt, New York Times–bestselling author of Pictures of You

The reclusive Harriet Wolf, revered author and family matriarch, has a final confession: a love story. Years after her death, as her family comes together one last time, the mystery of Harriet’s life hangs in the balance. Does the truth lie in the rumored final book of the series that made Harriet a world-famous writer, or will her final confession be lost forever?

The Seventh Book of Wonders tells the moving story of the unforgettable Wolf women in four distinct voices: the mysterious Harriet, who, until now, has never revealed the secrets of her past; her fiery, overprotective daughter, Eleanor; and her two grown granddaughters—Tilton, the fragile yet exuberant younger sister, who’s become a housebound hermit, and Ruth, the older sister, who ran away at sixteen and never looked back.

When Eleanor is hospitalized, Ruth decides it’s time to do right by a pact she made with Tilton long ago: to return home and save her sister. Meanwhile, Harriet whispers her true-life story to the reader. It’s a story that spans the entire twentieth century and is filled with mobsters, outcasts, a lonesome lion, and a home for wayward women. It’s also a tribute to her lifelong love of the boy she met at the Maryland School for Feeble-minded Children . . .

With The Seventh Book of Wonders, Julianna Baggott offers a profound meditation on motherhood and sisterhood, as well as on the central importance of stories. This is a novel that affords its characters that rare chance we all long for—the chance to reimagine the stories of our lives while there’s still time.

“Family secrets make for ripe hunting grounds for novelists. In this evocative book, those secrets hide mystery after mystery, like a set of Russian nesting dolls. . . . No spoilers, but we’ll say this: Baggott knows how and when to reveal answers for the ultimate emotional punch.” ―Entertainment Weekly

“A narrative that delivers a powerful sense of the meaning of motherhood and the bonds between sisters.” ―Library Journal