Isabel's Daughter

A young woman seeks to understand the mother she never knew in this heartfelt coming of age novel. After a childhood spent in an institution and a series of foster homes, Avery James has trained herself not to wonder about the mother who gave her up. But her safe, predictable life changes one night when she stumbles upon the portrait of a woman who is the mirror image of herself. Avery has found her mother, Isabel Colinas, an artist who died eight years earlier—and she is compelled to learn everything she can about her. Searching for Isabel, Avery is drawn into complex relationships with the people who knew her mother. As she draws together the threads of her mother's artistic heritage, her grandmother's skills as a curandera, or healer, and her own talent for cooking, Avery learns that, while discovering Isabel provides a certain resolution in her life, it's discovering herself that brings lasting happiness.