Skating Home

For fans of Ann Patchett and Elizabeth Strout, an intimate portrait of a woman balancing independence, connection, motherhood, and second-chance love after betrayal—a slow-burning, emotionally honest journey of self-discovery.

Ten years ago, Nina Taylor’s world shattered when her husband walked out on her and their three young children—one of them a newborn. Since then, she’s held everything together on her own. Tucked away in a small town in New York’s Hudson Valley, she’s built a life that’s steady, if solitary, her only escape found gliding across the frozen lake on skates. But when a nest of chipmunks brings handyman Hank into her home—and her heart—everything begins to shift.

As Nina’s connection with Hank deepens, so do her fears. With a daughter recovering from sexual assault, a son leaving for college, a high-energy ten-year-old, and an aging mother to take care of, Nina’s instinct is always to manage and control. Can she open her life to someone new without unraveling everything she’s worked so hard to protect?

Struggling to balance the relentless pace of motherhood with her private longing for love and connection, Nina must decide: Will she keep skating through life alone, or is it time to stop micromanaging everything and come home to herself? Skating Home is a slow-burning, heartfelt novel about motherhood, middle age, and the quiet triumph of learning to love again.