Amy hasn't written anything to sell for 30 years, although she frequently makes time to jot story ideas in a notebook. She makes her living as a writing teacher now, interacting with most of her students online. A journalist is scheduled to come to her house one day, as part of a series of women writers in the San Diego area. Before the journalist arrives, Amy takes a fall in her yard and hits her head hard on a birdbath. She notices a lot of blood and wonders if she's dying at first, but gets herself up and into her house, not quite herself, fading into and out of awareness. This incident sets off a series of events that change her life. She had not been looking forward to the interview, but when the time came, she gave it, although she couldn't recall anything about it. However, when the story appeared in the local newspaper, interest in Amy began to build and to snowball, drawing her old literary agent Maxine back into her life, along with various interviews and panel discussions and more.
What I like about the story is Amy's quiet reluctance to put herself out there in the world again, but how she finds ways to do it anyway, along with her strategies for dealing with activities and people which she would prefer to avoid.
After reading this book, I learned that some of the backstory referred to in the novel is part of a previous book about Amy, The Writing Class (2008). Another book about her is more recent, Amy Among the Serial Killers (2022). One or both of these books will make their way onto my reading list soon.
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