On September 11, 2001, when Molly Fitzgerald was just two months old, her mother went to the World Trade Center for a medical appointment and never returned. Despite the loving care and attention her stepmother provided, she developed a ingrained fear of disaster from a young age.

Now an adult, Molly heads Rhode Island’s Emergency Preparedness and Response Department—a department prepared to respond to disasters and mitigate their impact. She and her husband, Jesse, a polygraph expert with the Providence Police Department, are expecting their first child, and while excited, they are acutely aware of the world’s dangers. However, an unexpected encounter shatters their peaceful life, forcing Molly to question everything she thought she knew, who she truly is, and whether some disasters are more devastating than others.

Navigating between contemporary America and the turbulent nation of 2001, *Hollow Bones* focuses on the parent-child relationship, the alarming failures of systems designed to protect us, and the lies we tell ourselves as we write our own life narratives.

On September 11, 2001, when Molly Fitzgerald was two months old, her mother went to a doctor's appointment at the World Trade Center and never came home. Her stepmother couldn't have loved her more or cared for her better, but she still grew up with a healthy dread of disasters.

Now an adult, she runs the Rhode Island Department for Emergency Preparedness and Response—readying for disasters and trying to mitigate damage when they occur. She and her husband Jesse—a polygraph expert for the Providence police—are navigating their first pregnancy, juggling their excitement with the knowledge of how dangerous the world can be. But then an unexpected encounter upends their life, leading Molly to question everything she thought she thought, who she truly is, and whether some disasters are more devastating than others.

Moving between present day America and a country reeling in 2001, Hollow Bones spotlights the relationships between parents and children, the shocking failures of the systems designed to protect us, and the lies we tell ourselves as we write the narratives of our lives.

About the Author

Jodi Picoult is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of thirty novels, including By Any Other Name, Mad Honey (co-authored with Jennifer Finney Boylan), Wish You Were Here, The Book of Two Ways, A Spark of Light, Small Great Things, Leaving Time, and My Sister's Keeper, and, with daughter Samantha van Leer, two young adult novels, Between the Lines and Off the Page. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband.