The Story

When forty-five-year-old Alice Swanson—a physician assistant in long-term recovery—discovers she’s unexpectedly pregnant, she’s forced to reimagine her life just as her father’s sudden illness shakes the foundation of her family.

As Alice grapples with the risks of late-in-life motherhood and a new chance at love with Andy, a younger man from her past who’s building his own sobriety, her family’s stories unfurl alongside her own: a heartbroken niece fleeing a failed engagement, a sister confronting the end of a long fertility struggle, and a chorus of chosen family—including an opinionated cat—trying to find hope amid loss.

Spanning a transformative winter week and a summer of reckoning, A Hundred Ways to Say I Love You blends vignettes, letters, and shifting perspectives to explore how grief and change can fracture a family—or bring it closer together.

The Characters

This novel moves through the voices of Alice’s extended family and chosen community as they navigate a year of transformation—some voices taking center stage, others appearing in brief but essential moments.

At the heart: Alice, her unexpected pregnancy, and the question of what family means when biology both fails and surprises us.

Around her: A niece running from heartbreak. A sister letting go of a dream. A younger man offering second chances. A father facing mortality. A patient stepping in to help. And a cat who watches it all with patient wisdom.

Themes

• Unexpected pregnancy and late-in-life motherhood
• Recovery and the long work of staying sober
• Chosen family vs. biological family
• Fertility, loss, and letting go of what we thought we’d have
• Grief and transformation in small-town Appalachia
• The many ways we say “I love you” when words aren’t enough

Structure

A Hundred Ways to Say I Love You is told through vignettes, letters, and shifting perspectives across two key periods: a transformative winter week when everything changes, and a summer of reckoning when the family must decide who they’ll become.

The novel includes voices from Alice’s family, her chosen community in Radiant, and even Broccoli, the cat who observes the chaos with feline detachment and occasional commentary.

Comp Titles

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett (multi-generational family, interconnected stories)
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (linked stories, small-town voices)
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (shifting POVs, unconventional structure)
Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver (family crisis, Appalachian setting, multiple timelines)

Read More

Excerpts – Read the opening pages
Broccoli: Resident Feline, Reluctant Mascot – Meet the opinionated cat
Why Radiant? Why Not? – About the fictional town
A Scene from Radiant – Andy on his bike
Spring Roses in Winter – A story from Radiant
Dear Alice – Letters from Mom & Dad
Songs from Radiant – A playlist