Rains, At Times Heavy

“What a perfect title Debi Goodwin found for a novel that is poignant and always involving. Rains, sometimes heavy, have deprived the climatologist Linden Kemp of a grandfather, father and husband. As deft at describing dangerous outer weather as she is at the inner weather of intergenerational grief, Goodwin paints a memorable portrait of a woman who wants to take no more chances. Then, in one of the driest places on earth, she surprises herself.”

—Katherine Ashenburg, author of Her Turn

“Rains, At Times Heavy tells the compelling story of the Kemp family, seemingly cursed to lose their men to stormy weather. Death comes with downpours, rising rivers, lungs full of water, leaving behind bereft partners and fatherless children. Goodwin takes us from deluge to the desert when Linden, the youngest of the Kemp widows, is drawn to Death Valley, the hottest, driest place in the hemisphere, to bury her husband's ashes. There, she unearths truths about her father that might just point the way to her emotional rescue. For all its sadness, Rains, At Times Heavy is an uplifting journey of love, hope and redemption in a world that is full of storms.”

—Gail Gallant, author of The Changeling and Apparition

“Rains, At Times Heavy takes us into the heart of a family fractured by grief but united in their search for connection and safety in a world that is marked by increasingly unpredictable climate. From the ravages of Hurricane Hazel to the regular monsoon rains on the Varanasi ghats, from manicured Toronto lawns to the terrible beauty of Death Valley, Debi Goodwin reminds us that weather is not a backdrop to our private dramas but its own vital narrative, essential to our individual and collective survival. This is a tender novel about living in and through the literal and metaphorical storms that alter the course of our lives."

—Jamie Zeppa, author of Every Time We Say Goodbye