Absorbed in her own failings, Clara Purdy crashes her life into a sharp left turn, taking the family in the other car along with her. When bruises on the mother, Lorraine, prove to be late-stage cancer, Clara tries to do the right thing and - against all habit and comfort - moves the family into her own house, upending her life in the process. As Lorraine walks the borders of death, Clara expands into life, finding purpose, energy and unexpected love amidst the hard, unaccustomed work of sharing her days. But the burden is not only Claras: the children must cope with the guilt of divided loyalties, and Lorraine must live with the growing, unpayable debt to Clara - and the feeling that Clara has taken her place. What, exactly, does it mean to be good? When is sacrifice merely selfishness? What do we owe in this life, and what do we deserve? This moving, funny, and fiercely intelligent novel looks at life and death through the compassionate lens of a born novelist: being good, being at fault, and finding some balance on the precipice. Reminiscent of the work of Penelope Lively, Anne Tyler, and Alice Munro, Good to a Fault is one of the most profound and memorable reads of the year.