Halved

Rebecca is always so cold. She has a closet full of jackets that don’t fit her. The red one her mother bought her—cute, scratchy, and thin. The pink, fluffy jacket buried in the trash along with a secret. The purple velvet blazer, a flag of drunken high school rebellion. The boyfriends’ jackets, one after another. The black puffer jacket she wore while searching for acceptance in the queer community as a bisexual woman—lost in a toxic soup when she met Sammy. The hermit crab in her clings to her newest shell, a giant white parka, to finally offer protection and warmth.

The novel is set in 2005 Detroit, a city also in the process of rebuilding and finding itself. Rebecca finds purpose and connection caring for others at River Run Care Home while neglecting herself. An unexpected pregnancy is a watershed moment. She must either fight to reclaim her agency or disappear under Sammy’s violent control. Her mother’s evasions shatter under the weight of a devastating truth that unravels her whole life. The alcohol, the gnawing thoughts, the ghost of her past threaten to pull her under. To survive, she must accept help from an eclectic found family—and embrace her whole, wild self.