Evening Begins the Day (A Novel)

A bracing, emotional tale about two families in Boston struggling in the aftermath of betrayal and the illuminating influence of an ancient Jewish practice called the Counting of the Omer, which spans 49 days every spring.

In her precise, lyrical prose, Jessica Keener reveals the hidden lives of Rachel Cohen, a career environmentalist, who discovers her husband has been having an affair; Cynthia Meyers, a successful executive who is facing her own failures as a mother; Lawrence Peterson, a tired high school vice principal trapped in loneliness; and Lauren Meyers, a teenager on the verge of dropping out of high school, who feels betrayed by her mother. Over the course of seven weeks, the currents of these seemingly disparate lives intertwine and coalesce in the novel's stunning conclusion.

Multi-layered and gripping, Evening Begins the Day shines a light on the complexity of family dynamics and close relationships in crisis. Blending a modern sensibility with the story of the Jewish Exodus, the novel embraces the many ways in which we are vulnerable, flawed, despairing, confused, and most of all, yearning to be free—to love and be loved.