Learning To Drive

Raised a Christian Scientist, Charlotte McGuffey has always been taught to solve her problems by denying their existence. But now, suffering from crippling insomnia, living with a husband she no longer cares for, and bewildered by a three-year-old son who still won't talk, Charlotte is starting to wonder whether this strategy is working. When her husband is killed in a sudden accident she packs her two young boys in the family car and takes off for Beede, Vermont–the town where her husband grew up and died. Here in Vermont, away from the watchful eyes of her older sisters, Charlotte begins to search for answers, making new discoveries about her family's past, her late husband's death, and the possibility of new love. Filled with gentle wit and uncommon generosity, Learning to Drive is a funny, poignant lesson in self-discovery.

MARY HAYS was educated at Bennington College and the University of Chicago, where she received her M.A. in humanities. She has written short stories and plays and, until recently, taught third and fourth grades at a rural elementary school. She lives in Corinth, Vermont, with her husband, Stephen Long. Learning to Drive is her first novel.


From the Hardcover edition.