Best, First, and Last

Three generations of women set out to heal their broken hearts on a grand adventure of hiking the Incan Trail to Machu Picchu in this stirring, spirited, and ultimately joyful journey of love and self discovery for fans of Rebecca Serle and Josie Silver…

When twenty-five-year-old Heather Russo breaks up with her boyfriend—again—she can’t figure out if she’s to blame or he is. Either way, she’s miserable, and working at home via Zoom meetings is only making it worse. What’s more, all the women in her family are struggling. Mom Sandy is convinced she’s wasted her life and is nursing a giant grudge against Heather’s father, whom she’s now divorcing. Grandmother Bonnie is reeling with the grief of losing her third husband, and is carrying his urn everywhere she goes, even the supermarket. The bottom has fallen out of their lives so abruptly, the trio is clinging to any handhold they can—and slowly but surely losing their grip . . .

Inspired by a friend’s adventurous grandson, and determined not to spend her 70th birthday wallowing, Bonnie is ready to take extreme measures. Even if it means dragging her beloved girls along by the hair, they’re going to hike the Incan Trail to Machu Picchu! Of course, their emotional baggage gets packed with their lightweight jackets, but as they make the trek, the women also talk, sharing stories and secrets that have been festering for far too long. With every arduous step toward the famed summit, each woman sheds some of the past and its pain, and opens up to the extraordinary possibilities of the present—and a future that just might include a new happily ever after.

Amy T Matthews is a novelist and academic who also writes under the names Amy Barry and Tess LaSue. A former Chair and long serving board member of Writers SA, she is currently a Senior Lecturer and Discipline Lead in Creative Writing at Flinders University and an Associate Member of the JM Coetzee Centre for Creative Practice. She lives in Australia and can be found online at AmyTMatthews.com.