Three Days in Purgatory: a Novel

Do we ever learn if the mistakes we make have purpose? Meet Camille Sawyer and her daughter Elizabeth. Camille is immersed in regret over the bad choices she has made. Kids, men, her health, you name it. No matter how hard she tries, it seems she always gets it wrong and in the process continually disappoints her daughter. Elizabeth-who prefers Beth-is angry that her mother will not be flying to Houston for her brother's memorial, but should have expected it. Camille has always put the men in her life ahead of her children. Just once, Beth tells her mother, she wishes that Camille would put her children first. That statement triggers a three-day whirlwind of change in which Camille awakens each morning living a different, totally baffling life that only vaguely resembles her own, all triggered by her daughter's daily wish for the perfect mom. Her husband, her best friend, her home, her occupation, all keep changing-and at first glance, each new life seems ideal, though harsh consequences are not far behind. But Camille is driven by the possibility of being reunited with her son. Each life dangles hope that he is alive. Despite the madness that's happening, she has to hold on until Saturday, when she can see her son again.