Every Time We Say Goodbye

Every Time We Say Goodbye is a tender and perceptive generational family saga that follows the unconventional, yet interconnected, Turner family across several decades, exploring themes of leaving, absence, and mending hearts. The story spans from 1942 to 1973, chronicling the family's mysteries and disappearing acts. In 1942, Grace Turner leaves Sault Ste. Marie to seek an independent life for herself and her baby boy, worried her family will not return him. Years later, in 1957, her son, teenaged Dean Turner, discovers adoption papers that motivate him to leave home to find the mysterious Grace. Dean's pattern of sudden departures affects Laura, who falls in love with him in 1961 only to have him disappear devastatingly, though she finds him again three years later. The narrative ultimately centers on eight-year-old Dawn Turner in 1973, who, along with her brother, returns to her grandparents' house after her father's new attempt at family life fails. As Dawn grows up, she works to understand her family's past and its patterns of absence before she loses track of herself completely . Rich with broken promises and, in the end, some mending of hearts, the book explores what connects and what drives apart parents and children, brothers and sisters, and husbands and wives.

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