The story of a woman trying to isolate herself from the world and the town where she's holed up. It's 2019, and 29-year-old Darcy Clipper returns to her hometown of Murbridge, Massachusetts, after her husband, Skip, leaves her for a sky diving instructor. As an only child, she hopes to escape into the comfort of her parents' care, but when she arrives at her childhood home, she discovers her folks have moved to a retirement community in Arizona and didn't tell her because they didn't want to upset her. Fortunately, they're not planning to sell their house for a while. Darcy spirals into a circle of depression, grief, and self-isolation. Her only contact is with an online community message board and a police officer who's called to the house regularly by spying neighbors accusing her of trespassing. She pages through her parents' National Geographic collection and doesn't leave the house all winter until she eats her way through the canned food her mother stored in the basement ahead of Y2K. Then, with only a few cans of chickpeas left, her point of view starts to shift. After a shower and a good primal scream, she decides to get more involved in the community, albeit in tiny chunks punctuated by extreme social anxiety. Searching for missing pets posted on the community board, she finds the reward money easy and the outdoor air and blooming tulips good for her mood. Her confidence lifts through her interactions with other people, including chance encounters with bird-watchers and a job working for Marcus, one of the town's newest residents, who wants to build a public playground on an empty lot next to his house. As spring turns into summer, the community board becomes a place of threats and protests against the playground, spurred on by a corporate developer who wants to turn the land into a casino. Darcy must decide whether to take a stand or return to the walls of her childhood bedroom. Readers feel Darcy's isolation through the first quarter of the novel and, like the main character, relax into the enjoyment of getting to know the quirky lives of those who populate the neighborhood. Conklin has created a heartening look at a community whose people realize they're better together than alone. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Conklin's quirky but undercooked latest (after The Last Romantics) follows the travails of a brokenhearted woman as she returns to her Massachusetts hometown. Darcy Clipper, 29, works as a junior actuary and lives with her husband, Skip, in Boston. When Skip announces he's leaving her, she retreats to Murbridge, hoping for a warm embrace from her parents. To her surprise, they've just relocated to Arizona, where they're "trying out" a retirement community. Hunkered down in her parents' house, she insists they come back, but after weeks of solitude, she reluctantly starts looking for work. Through some odd jobs, Darcy makes new friends like Marcus Dash-LaGrand; his husband, Dan; and their three kids. Newcomers to town, Marcus and Dan hope to build a playground and open their backyard to the children in the community, a plan that homophobe local Jake--who has his eyes on their property--tries to thwart. Coincidences and surprise revelations involving Jake's scheming lead to a showdown at a town meeting, where the playground's fate is decided. The plot is paper-thin and the tone too cutesy, but Conklin ably conveys Darcy's state of arrested development, as well as her transition into a stronger person who strives to help her friends despite her anxieties. This is far from life-changing, but there's fun to be had. (Mar.)

When her husband abruptly leaves her, 30-year-old Darcy finds herself adrift. Cut off from her old couple friends and even her job, she decides to return to her beloved hometown, a quaint village in western Massachusetts, and her parents' comforting arms. But she arrives to an empty house. Her parents, youthful retirees, have decided to spend a year in Arizona. Darcy stays, existing on her mom's basement stash of canned goods and interacting with the outside world via the town's online message board. There, protected by anonymity, she is inspired to act. She rescues lost pets, solves a murder mystery, and helps a new family navigate a political hate campaign. Slowly, she starts to build her own community based on her own values, as she both gives and receives support in unexpected ways. Conklin (The Last Romantics, 2019) delivers a winning third novel, with Darcy's smart, introspective voice at the heart of it. Her unconventional adventures (often hilarious, always interesting) drive home the importance of community and how important it is to show up and participate.