The Road to Tender Hearts – A Novel

A NATIONAL BESTSELLER • An NPR and Lit Hub Best Book of the Year

“A miraculous novel—an actual and spiritual road trip you won’t forget.” —John Irving

From Annie Hartnett, the beloved author of Rabbit Cake and Unlikely Animals, comes a darkly comic, big-hearted road trip novel that’s been finding its way into the hands of lingering browsers all summer long. Trust us—this one is a keeper.

Meet PJ Halliday: sixty-three years old, three heart attacks deep, and a million-dollar lottery winner who still spends most of his days at the local bar in Pondville, Massachusetts. Life hasn’t been kind. But when PJ stumbles across the obituary of his old romantic rival, he realizes his high school sweetheart, Michelle Cobb, is single again—and living at the Tender Hearts Retirement Community in Arizona.

So he hatches a plan. A cross-country drive. A shot at second-chance love.

Of course, life has other ideas. Before PJ can hit the road, tragedy hands him guardianship of his estranged brother’s two orphaned grandchildren. Along for the ride: Sophie, his adrift twenty-something daughter, and Pancakes, a former nursing-home therapy cat with an uncanny knack for predicting death.

What follows is a tender, funny, wholly original journey about family, forgiveness, and the messy business of starting over.

Perfect for fans of literary fiction with heart, humor, and a little bit of magic. Pour a cup of something warm, settle in, and let Hartnett carry you across the country. You won’t want the trip to end.

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