Mesha Maren

"Jodi McCarty is seventeen when she's sentenced to life in prison for manslaughter. She's released eighteen years later and finds herself reeling from the shock of unexpected freedom. Not yet able to return to her lost home in the Appalachian mountains, she heads south in search of someone she left behind, as a way of finally making amends. There, she will meet and fall in love with Miranda, a troubled young mother living in a motel room with her...

"A powerful coming-of-age novel about queerness and addiction in rural America, and the heartbreak that comes from loving a place that doesn't always love you back"--