Twenty-One Wishes

Twenty-One Wishes follows Anne Marie Roche, the owner of a bookstore on Seattle's Blossom Street, two years into widowhood and feeling the emptiness of a life without children. At a Valentine's Day gathering, she and several other widows each write a list of twenty wishes - small, deferred ambitions like learning to knit or doing something for someone else.

Volunteering at a local school as one of her wishes, Anne Marie meets Ellen, an eight-year-old who quickly becomes more important to her than she anticipated. As Anne Marie checks items off her list, Ellen adds a wish of her own - a twenty-first wish, kept secret from Anne Marie until near the end - that reshapes both of their futures. The novel continues the Blossom Street series' focus on community, grief, and the found families that form around a Seattle knitting shop.