Inheriting Edith by Zoe Fishman

Maggie cleaned houses for a living.  She's a single mom with a little girl and it pays better than working in an office.  It's also an outlet for her obsessive/compulsive behavior.  It's not bad but whenever she can't sleep or settle herself, she cleans.  This way she gets paid for it.  When she gets a call from a lawyer's office and he tells her that she has an inheritance, she doesn't understand it.  No one related to her has died.  It turns out it's a friend from her past.  This friend left her a house and grounds with no mortgage.  The only catch is that she inherits her mother, too...

William Morrow and Edelweiss allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published October 18th.

Maggie is not sure about this.  Having a home that's paid for and enough money to keep her going sounds very attractive but she's not sure about taking care of an eighty-two year old woman with Alzheimer's.  It's a take it or leave it, though, so she takes it.  She could just see Lucy being excited by the sea.

Someone not excited by it is the mother.  Edith is rude and crabby.  Maggie is short tempered.  It takes them a while to get used to each other and settle down a bit.  Edith wants to be independent but sometimes she gets lost.  Maggie doesn't want to be too controlling but she does want to help her.  It takes a few dances before they get the steps down.

What I liked about this story is that both women grew by their association with each other.  They found they had similar characteristics and similar reactions to situations.  They also found out they had secrets.  Even Edith grows up a bit in this story.

Women's fiction isn't bad if it's written well.  This is well written.