The Underside of Joy

　　如果你有兩個媽媽－－
　　面對法官大人的時候，該如何抉擇呢？
　　作者身兼兩種母親身分，石破天驚處女作
　　以理性與感性之筆，刻劃一場親子撫養權爭奪戰

　　繼《姐姐的守護者》之後－－
　　最切身、切膚，真實觸動女性讀者共鳴的親情對決
　　幸福，真的可以選擇嗎？

　　事開始時，艾拉．畢恩置身在快樂的泳池邊，身旁有丈夫喬和喬與前妻所生的兩個孩子相伴，一家四口幸福快樂。

　　不幸，結婚三年之後喬意外身亡，留下妻子艾拉照顧孩子與負債累累的雜貨店。當艾拉在公婆全力支持下，決心撫養孩子長大，並振興店舖生意之際，消失多年、如今事業有成的前妻佩姬卻突然出現，而且她聲明要奪回親生子女的監護權。

　　佩姬當年不告而別，杳無音訊多年的她，聲稱自己曾多次寫信期盼天倫重聚，是喬不讓她跟孩子聯絡。甫過世的喬，死無對證，問題是這些信件真的存在嗎？

　　……究竟喬還對艾拉隱瞞了哪些事呢？

　　Set against the backdrop of Redwood forests and shimmering vineyards, Sere Prince Halverson's compelling debut tells the story of two women, bound by an unspeakable loss, who each claims to be the mother of the same two children.

　　To Ella Beene, happiness means living in the northern California river town of Elbow with her husband, Joe, and his two young children. Yet one summer day Joe breaks his own rule-never turn your back on the ocean-and a sleeper wave strikes him down, drowning not only the man but his many secrets.

　　For three years, Ella has been the only mother the kids have known and has believed that their biological mother, Paige, abandoned them. But when Paige shows up at the funeral, intent on reclaiming the children, Ella soon realizes there may be more to Paige and Joe's story. "Ella's the best thing that's happened to this family," say her close-knit Italian-American in-laws, for generations the proprietors of a local market. But their devotion quickly falters when the custody fight between mother and stepmother urgently and powerfully collides with Ella's quest for truth.

　　The Underside of Joy is not a fairy-tale version of stepmotherhood pitting good Ella against evil Paige, but an exploration of the complex relationship of two mothers. Their conflict uncovers a map of scars-both physical and emotional-to the families' deeply buried tragedies, including Italian internment camps during World War II and postpartum psychosis.

　　Weaving a rich fictional tapestry abundantly alive with the glorious natural beauty of the novel's setting, Halverson is a captivating guide through the flora and fauna of human emotion-grief and anger, shame and forgiveness, happiness and its shadow complement . . . the underside of joy.

　　★本書中譯版《幸福的抉擇》由出版。

作者簡介

瑟芮．普林斯．哈維森

　　定居於美國北加州﹐擔任自由文案撰稿人二十年﹐副業是小說創作。她與丈夫育有四名已成年的兒女。她身兼生母與繼母的角色﹐成長於生母與繼母愛護的環境。本書是她的處女作。

　　SERE PRINCE HALVERSON lives in northern California and worked as a freelance copywriter for twenty years while she wrote fiction. She and her husband have four grown children. She is a mom and a stepmom, and grew up with a mom and a stepmom. This is her debut novel.