WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU LOSE EVERYTHING ON YOUR BIRTHDAY?

On the morning of her seventeenth birthday, Doris Burke kisses her grandmother goodbye, grabs her schoolbooks, and heads out the door-never imagining that by 3 o'clock that afternoon, the only home she's ever known will be in ashes.

When her four-year-old brother Tommy finds a box of matches in the kitchen while Grandma Rose steps outside for just three minutes, a small spark turns into a fire that takes everything. The cupboard, the kitchen, the wooden bones of the old house on Elm Creek Road-all of it gone before the birthday cake even arrives.

Now Grandma Rose, Doris, little Tommy, and the family beagle have nowhere to go. So they pile into a neighbor's truck and drive two towns over to stay with Eleanor Marsh-an elderly cousin, sharp as a tack, and clearly not long for this world.

What happens next is something none of them expected.

In the weeks that follow, as Eleanor grows weaker and the family grows closer, a simple act of generosity will change their lives forever. Because sometimes losing a house isn't the worst thing that can happen to a family-sometimes it's the only way they find out what they're really made of.

No Birthday Present is a short, deeply moving novella about fire and family, loss and love, and what it truly means to call something home. For readers who loved The Notebook, Where the Crawdads Sing, or Firefly Lane-and who believe that the best gifts in life are the ones you never see coming.

Perfect for fans of:

• Uplifting women's fiction with emotional depth

• Stories about grandmothers, sisters, and the bonds that hold families together

• Short novels you can read in one sitting but carry with you for years

No birthdays. No house. No idea what comes next. But all the love they need.

Scroll up and grab your copy today.

Autorentext

P. A. Farrell is a psychologist and published author with McGraw-Hill, Springer Publishing, Cafe Lit, Ravens Perch, Humans of the World, Active Muse, Free Spirit Publishing, Scarlet Leaf Review, 100 Word Project, Woodcrest Magazine, Confetti, and LitBreak. She's a top health writer for Medium.com, has published self-help books, and is a board member of Clinics4Life. She lives on the East Coast of the US.