Mary Ann in Autumn

Mary Ann Singleton, now in her late fifties, returns to San Francisco from New York City and asks her old friend Michael Tolliver to let her stay in his guest cottage while she recovers from a health scare and confronts a personal crisis. As the Barbary Lane community gathers around her, the novel follows several of the original cast members as they face their own turning points: Michael's assistant Jake struggles with his transition and the cost of surgery; Shawna navigates motherhood and a new relationship; and the group confronts a threat from the past that resurfaces in the neighborhood. Told across multiple points of view, the story is a meditation on aging, illness, and the enduring bonds of a chosen family.