Evergreen Tidings from the Baumgartners

A formidable matriarch learns the hard way that no family is perfect in this witty, sparkling debut novel Dearest loved ones, far and near--evergreen tidings from the Baumgartners! Violet Baumgartner has opened her annual holiday letter the same way for the past three decades. And this year she´s going to throw her husband, Ed, a truly perfect retirement party, one worthy of memorializing in her upcoming letter. But the event becomes a disaster when, in front of two hundred guests, Violet learns her daughter Cerise has been keeping a shocking secret from her, shattering Violet´s carefully constructed world. In an epic battle of wills, Violet goes to increasing lengths to wrest back control of her family, infuriating Cerise and snaring their family and friends in a very un-Midwestern, un-Baumgartner gyre of dramatics. And there will be no explaining away the consequences in this year´s Baumgartner holiday letter... Full of humor, emotion and surprises at every turn, Evergreen Tidings from the Baumgartners brings to life a remarkable cast of quirky, deeply human characters who must learn to adapt to the unconventional, or else risk losing one another. This is the story of a family falling to pieces--and the unexpected way they put it all back together.