Falling Wisteria

As America enters WWII, two women on the home front strive to stay strong in a heartfelt novel about hope, friendship, and family by the bestselling author of Yellow Crocus and Golden Poppies.

Kay Lynn Brooke is a wife and mother in Berkeley, California, building a solid future with her husband and family. Then on December 7, 1941, the bombing of Pearl Harbor throws Kay Lynn’s life, and the lives of everyone she knows and loves, into chaos.

Within weeks, Kay Lynn’s dearest friend, Kimiko, is forcibly relocated with her family to an internment camp. Kay Lynn’s brother, fortified with a youthful and patriotic spirit, ships out for the Pacific. Her husband enlists ahead of the draft and leaves home for basic training, while Kay Lynn’s sister works for the war effort on the home front—and holds a secret that places her in a different kind of danger.

As Kay Lynn struggles to parent, keep the household together, and challenge the social mores of the time, she both finds and gives strength through her letters to Kimiko. Over the next few uncertain years, and longing for the safe and simple clarity of the past, Kay Lynn has no choice but to find her own place and purpose in a rapidly changing world.

Laila Ibrahim is the bestselling author of After the Rain, Scarlet Carnation, Golden Poppies, Paper Wife, Mustard Seed, and Yellow Crocus. Before becoming a novelist, she worked as a preschool director, a birth doula, and a religious educator. Drawing from her experience in these positions, along with her education in developmental psychology and attachment theory, she finds rich inspiration for her novels. She’s a devout Unitarian Universalist, determined to do her part to add a little more love and justice to our beautiful and painful world. She lives with her wonderful wife, Rinda, and two other families in a small cohousing community in Berkeley, California. Her children and their families are her pride and joy. When she isn’t writing, she likes to cuddle with her dog Hazel, take walks with friends, study the Enneagram, do jigsaw puzzles, play games, work in the garden, travel, cook, and eat all kinds of delicious food. For more information, visit lailaibrahim.com.