Evening Begins the Day

by Jessica Brilliant Keener

After a family betrayal, Rachel Cohen, escapes to a rental house in an idyllic town outside of Boston. She winds up next door to her colleague Cynthia Meyer, who-unlike Rachel-seems to have everything going for her. This town is full of parents who are high achievers, exceptional children, beautiful homes and well-hidden problems.

Everything changes when an ambulance pulls up in front of the Meyers' house and their teenage daughter is carried away on a stretcher. Amid their turmoil, Rachel and the Meyers' lives begin to intertwine. When they adopt an ancient spiritual practice called the Counting of the Omer, it leads them down unconventional pathways for answers.

Evening Begins the Day shines a light on the complexity of two families in crisis and their transformation from isolation to community, loneliness to hope and joy.

Author: Jessica Brilliant Keener is the author of three novels and a collection of stories from a series called “Women in Bed.” Keener is the recipient of a Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist's Grant, a Wesleyan creative writing scholarship, and a fellowship in fiction by the Virginia Center for Creative Arts.