The Flood Girls

Welcome to Quinn, Montana, population 956. Nearly all the volunteer firemen are named Jim; The Dirty Shame, the only bar in town, refuses to serve mixed drinks because they are too much work; the locals hate the newcomers and each other; and the town softball team has never come close to a winning season.

Rachel Flood has snuck back into town nine years after leaving a trail of chaos behind her. She is here to make amends and nobody wants to hear it, least of all her mother Laverna. With the help of a local boy named Jake and a good deal of unwelcome soul-searching, she might make things right anyway — and she plays for the Flood Girls, the town team, despite being no good at softball.

Richard Fifield's debut is a small-town redemption story about imperfect mothers and wayward daughters, held together by an ensemble of townspeople who bond and break over affairs and softball tournaments in roughly equal measure. Compared on publication to Empire Falls and A League of Their Own.