SOMEWHERE IN BLUE by Gillian Cummings

Two mothers and two daughters struggle to understand one another and survive what life has dealt them. 

Sandy is grieving the loss of her father and doesn't understand why her mother isn't sharing the same level of grief.  His rapid decline and death from cancer didn't give Sandy the needed time to adjust to what life would be like without him.  They were close in a way that always seemed to exclude her mother, but it took losing him for Sandy to recognize it.  Now Vivian is left without her husband and also without a real relationship with her daughter.

Lennie is embarrassed by her mother.  Teresa is a single mother determined to be an object of desire for men - any men willing to give her the time of day.  The men she allows to escort her home both disgust and frighten her teenage daughter.  Lennie doesn't understand how Teresa can have such low standards and take such irresponsible risks.  In addition to trying to protect her mother, Lennie is knee-deep in trying to help her friend Sandy move on after the death of her father. 

Both Sandy and Lennie are about to discover secrets their mothers have kept hidden for years.  Those secrets could either draw them closer together or tear their delicate relationships farther apart. 

Author Gillian Cummings deftly describes both situations using relatable and realistic mother/daughter vibes that will ring true to readers even if they haven't experienced the suffering and loss felt by Cummings' characters.  SOMEWHERE IN BLUE explores the depths and suffering of loss and damaging stress of hidden secrets.