Over the Verdant Hills by Jessie Gussman

Once, Claire had the life others dreamed about—but now she’s drowning in debt, loss, and loneliness.

At thirty-five, Claire never imagined herself divorced, a single mom, unemployed, and moving back to her grandmother’s ramshackle farmhouse in the quiet countryside of Raspberry Ridge. She left the small-town life behind decades ago for city glamour and success, only to see everything she built crumble overnight.
Determined to start anew, she immerses herself in restoring her grandmother’s neglected farm, rekindling friendships she’d once forgotten, and reconnecting with the simpler joys she ignored in pursuit of her career. But just as Claire begins to find peace in tending gardens, baking pies, and watching fireflies dance beneath the stars, a ghost from her past appears, bringing with her all the heartbreak and guilt Claire had carefully hidden. Suddenly, buried truths emerge—secrets Claire kept hidden, believing they would protect those she loved most. With her future hanging by a thread, she must choose between clinging to familiar pain or risking everything on a new beginning.

Claire soon realizes that home isn’t just a place, but it is wherever the people she loves are. Will she find the courage to face the past and open her heart again—even when the risk of heartbreak seems inevitable?