A Stone's Throw

Two women who never meet, a motherless child and childless mother, are brought together to discover the real magic of creation.Simona Casale, a Minneapolis artist, learns she's pregnant the same day she lands a major mural installation at a new women's center. No problem; she can take on a surprise pregnancy and a monster commission. With the father in London, that's one less complication.Gemma Ledbetter, a London homemaker, is grieving the babies she couldn't have. When her husband returns from the States, she decides they'll start fresh. But things seldom go as planned.Simona and Gemma live an ocean apart, yet their lives become forever entwined when the women Simona is painting come to life, stepping out of their portraits. They arrive with a purpose: to nurture a broken heart…or two. Simona and Gemma learn about art-making, love, grief, and motherhood when they are magically welcomed into a lineage of women who share their lives' joys and sorrows during the most creative time of these women's lives.--A Stone's Throw is a novel steeped in magical realism and contrasts. It juxtaposes the lives of two women – Minneapolis artist Simona Casale, who discovers she is pregnant on the cusp of her greatest artistic coup to date; and childless Gemma Ledbetter, whose heart aches to become a mother.Alida Winternheimer dovetails their two lives in a manner that slowly draws together the rich complexity of these worlds, employing the magical, artistic forces that connect them with a creative focus, showing how each woman is creating and contributing to life in a meaningful manner.Their ultimately collaborative work portends unusual transformations for each woman:"…the plaque that would go on the side wall nearby would explain that the central figure could equally be the artist's mother carrying the artist, or the artist carrying her daughter, making it a mysterious double, or even triple, portrait. It was fitting for a piece titled Womankind, that celebrates the ultimate creative act: life itself."Libraries and book clubs seeking women's writings that review friendships, the impact of children and grief on life trajectories and choices, and the possibilities of a bit of magic that pushes new transformations in two women's lives will find A Stone's Throw holds much opportunity for discussion.Beautifully rendered and astute in its contrasts and insights, A Stone's Throw is a top pick for readers interested in art, motherhood, and relationships both connected to and challenged by circumstance, trauma, and recovery.- Midwest Book Review