Sonnet Romano’s life is almost perfect. She has the ideal career, the ideal boyfriend, and has just been offered a prestigious fellowship. There’s nothing more a woman wants—except maybe a baby…brother?

When Sonnet finds out her mother is unexpectedly expecting, and that the pregnancy is high risk, she puts everything on hold—the job, the fellowship, the boyfriend—and heads home to Avalon. Once her mom is out of danger, Sonnet intends to pick up her life where she left off.But when her mother receives a devastating diagnosis, Sonnet must decide what really matters in life, even if that means staying in Avalon and taking a job that forces her to work alongside her biggest, and maybe her sweetest, mistake—award-winning filmmaker Zach Alger. So Sonnet embarks on a summer of laughter and tears, of old dreams and new possibilities and of finding the home of her heart.

At once heartbreaking and uplifting, Return to Willow Lake plumbs the deepest corners of the human heart, exploring the bonds of family, the perils and rewards of love, and the true meaning of home. Profoundly emotional and resonant, this is Susan Wiggs at her finest.

2. What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done at a wedding? Does Sonnet’s impulsive act at Daisy’s wedding make sense, given where she is in her life? What would you have done in that situation?

3. Do you keep checklists? What’s the one thing on your life’s “to-do” list that you can never seem to accomplish, even though you intend to? What is blocking Sonnet from checking off “fall in love”?

4. How has Sonnet’s personal history formed her character? What keeps her from seeing Orlando for who he is until it’s almost too late?

5. In what ways does Sonnet thing Zach is all wrong for her? What makes him exactly right for her? What did it take for her to finally see that?

6. Jezebel is larger than life, but in what ways does she reveal herself to be all too human? What is it about her that draws both Sonnet and Zach? Did she help or hinder their relationship?

7. What’s your favorite reality TV show? If you could design a reality show of your own, what would it be like?

8. Has your mother ever gotten really sick? What was your emotional reaction? How did the experience cause you to grow and change? How did Nina’s illness cause Sonnet to change?

9. What do you suppose Sonnet’s relationship with her half-brother will be like, going forward?

10. At the end of the story, Sonnet’s relationship with her father has shifted. What’s your prediction for what it will be like in the future?

11. What will Sonnet and Zach’s first fight be about, do you suppose? And what tools do they have to survive it?