Newly widowed baker Mercedes Spivey flies from Miami to her native Cuba in 2019 to care for her ailing paternal grandmother. Mercedes’ life has been shaped by loss, beginning with the mysterious unsolved disappearance of her mother when Mercedes was a little girl. Returning to Cuba revives Mercedes’ hopes of finding her mother as she attempts to piece together the few scraps of information she has. Thirty-three years earlier, an American college student with endless political optimism falls deliriously in love with a handsome Cuban soldier while on a spontaneous visit to the island. She decides to stay permanently but soon discovers that nothing is as it seems in Havana. The two women’s stories proceed in parallel as Mercedes gets closer to the truth about her mother, uncovering shocking family secrets in the process.

Newly widowed baker Mercedes Spivey flies from Miami to her native Cuba in 2019 to care for her ailing paternal grandmother. Mercedes’ life has been shaped by loss, beginning with the mysterious unsolved disappearance of her mother when Mercedes was a little girl. Returning to Cuba revives Mercedes’ hopes of finding her mother as she attempts to piece together the few scraps of information she has. Thirty-three years earlier, an American college student with endless political optimism falls deliriously in love with a handsome Cuban soldier while on a spontaneous visit to the island. She decides to stay permanently but soon discovers that nothing is as it seems in Havana. The two women’s stories proceed in parallel as Mercedes gets closer to the truth about her mother, uncovering shocking family secrets in the process.

A Cuban American woman searches for her long-lost mother and fights to restore a beautiful but crumbling Art Deco home in the heart of Havana in this moving, immersive new mystery, perfect for fans of OF WOMEN AND SALT.

Newly widowed baker Mercedes Spivey flies from Miami to her native Cuba in 2019 to care for her ailing paternal grandmother. Mercedes’ life has been shaped by loss, beginning with the mysterious unsolved disappearance of her mother when Mercedes was a little girl. Returning to Cuba revives Mercedes’ hopes of finding her mother as she attempts to piece together the few scraps of information she has.

Thirty-three years earlier, an American college student with endless political optimism falls deliriously in love with a handsome Cuban soldier while on a spontaneous visit to the island. She decides to stay permanently but soon discovers that nothing is as it seems in Havana.

The two women’s stories proceed in parallel as Mercedes gets closer to the truth about her mother, uncovering shocking family secrets in the process.

Audiobook available, read by Cynthia Farrell

In 1977, while she was in her 20s, Robyn Davidson set off with a dog and four camels to cross 1,700 miles of Australian desert to the sea. A life of almost constant traveling followed --- from the Outback to Sydney's underworld; from ’60s street life to the London literary scene; from migrating with nomads in India and Tibet to marrying an Indian prince. The only territory she avoided was the past. In UNFINISHED WOMAN, she ventures into that unknown, unearthing an ache for a lost but barely remembered mother and an unmet desire to feel at home in her freedom. Adventurous but guarded, fearless yet broken, Davidson asks: How can we live with pain and uncertainty to find beauty in the strangeness of being?

In 1977, while she was in her 20s, Robyn Davidson set off with a dog and four camels to cross 1,700 miles of Australian desert to the sea. A life of almost constant traveling followed --- from the Outback to Sydney's underworld; from ’60s street life to the London literary scene; from migrating with nomads in India and Tibet to marrying an Indian prince. The only territory she avoided was the past. In UNFINISHED WOMAN, she ventures into that unknown, unearthing an ache for a lost but barely remembered mother and an unmet desire to feel at home in her freedom. Adventurous but guarded, fearless yet broken, Davidson asks: How can we live with pain and uncertainty to find beauty in the strangeness of being?

A spellbinding memoir exploring time and memory, home and belonging, from the internationally bestselling author of TRACKS, “an unforgettably powerful book” (Cheryl Strayed).

In 1977, while she was in her 20s, Robyn Davidson set off with a dog and four camels to cross 1,700 miles of Australian desert to the sea.

A life of almost constant traveling followed --- from the Outback to Sydney's underworld; from '60s street life to the London literary scene; from migrating with nomads in India and Tibet to marrying an Indian prince. The only territory she avoided was the past. In UNFINISHED WOMAN, she ventures into that unknown, unearthing an ache for a lost but barely remembered mother and an unmet desire to feel at home in her freedom.

Adventurous but guarded, fearless yet broken, Davidson asks: How can we live with pain and uncertainty to find beauty in the strangeness of being? UNFINISHED WOMAN is a stunning literary achievement, inviting readers in as a world-famous wandering spirit is, for the first time, laid truly bare.

Audiobook available, read by Kerry Fox