Elizabeth Berg bestselling author of The Art of Mending and The Year of Pleasures has a rare talent for revealing her characters hearts and minds in a manner that makes us empathize completely Her new novel We Are All Welcome Here features three women each struggling against overwhelming odds for her own kind of freedomIt is the summer of In Tupelo Mississippi the town of Elviss birth tensions are mounting over civil-rights demonstrations occurring ever more frequentlyand violentlyacross the state But in Paige Dunns small ramshackle house there are more immediate concerns Challenged by the effects of the polio she contracted during her last month of pregnancy Paige is nonetheless determined to live as normal a life as possible and to raise her daughter Diana in the way she sees fitwith the support of her tough-talking black caregiver PeacieDiana is trying in her own fashion to live a normal life As a fourteen-year-old she wants to make money for clothes and magazines to slough off the authority of her mother and Peacie to figure out the puzzle that is boys and to escape the oppressiveness she sees everywhere in her small town What she can never escape however is the way her life is markedly different from others Nor can she escape her ongoing responsibility to assist in caring for her mother Paige Dunn is attractive charming intelligent and lively but her needs are greatand relentless As the summer unfolds hate and adversity will visit this modest home Despite the difficulties thrust upon them each of the women will find her own path to independence understanding and peace And Dianas mother so mightily compromised will end up giving her daughter an extraordinary gift few parents could match.
