THE GIRLS WHO GREW BIG

Written in big beautiful prose that expands throughout the novel and leaves the reader full and satisfied Leila Mottley s grasp of human nature is unmatched CANDICE CARTY WILLIAMS From the author of the Booker nominated international bestseller Nightcrawling a novel about the joys and entanglements of a fierce group of teenage mothers in a Florida beach town When Adela Woods tells her parents she s pregnant they immediately send her a thousand miles away to stay with her grandmother in Padua Beach The intention is that she will leave her baby in the forgotten Panhandle of Florida and resume her suburban life nine months later as though nothing happened But Adela s plans are soon washed away by the tide First Adela meets Emory a new mother determined to defy the expectations of everyone around her returning to high school with her newborn baby strapped to her chest Then she meets Simone ringleader of the Girls a group of young mothers who create a village together in the back of her red truck dancing breastfeeding raising their children and themselves The town thinks they ve lost their way Really they are finding it But as they look for love make and break friendships navigate the miracle of motherhood and the paradox of girlhood Adela Em