"My father proposed to my mother at gunpoint when she was nineteen, and knowing that she was already pregnant with a dead man’s child, she accepted."

Thus begins this riveting story of a woman's quest to understand her recently deceased mother, a glamorous, cruel narcissist who left her only child, Elsie, an inheritance of debts and mysteries. While coping with threats that she suspects are coming from the cult-like spiritual program her mother belonged to, Elsie works to unravel the message her dying mother left for her, a quest that ultimately takes her to the South African family homestead she never knew existed.

Gina Sorell is a writer, actor, and creative director who was born in South Africa and now lives in Toronto with her family. After two decades as a working actor, including ten years in L.A., she returned to her first love, writing, graduating with distinction from the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program. Gina pairs her novel writing with her work as the creative director of Eat My Words, a San Francisco?based branding firm. This is her first novel.

Gina Sorell's profile page

Gina Sorell is a writer, actor, and creative director, born in South Africa and currently residing in Toronto with her husband and son. After two decades as a working actor of stage and screen, Gina decided to return to her first love, writing, and graduated with distinction from UCLA Extension Writers' Program. Gina pairs her many hours of novel writing with her work as a Creative Director of Eat My Words, a San Francisco-based branding firm.Mothers and Other Strangers is her first novel.

"Whom do we really belong to and why? This dark, gorgeous jewel of a novel probes the secrets we keep and the complex ties of family, love, and loss. Shattering and brilliant, this marks the debut of an astonishing talent."
? Caroline Leavitt,New York Times?bestselling author ofCruel Beautiful World andPictures of You

"Mothers and Other Strangers is a memorable first novel, a delightfully twisty
gothic with the strange and eerie urgency of a fable or a dream."
? Dan Chaon, author ofIll Will andYou Remind Me of Me

?A young woman’s investigation of her mother’s mysterious past uncovers disturbing revelations about love, family and the fragile bonds that both connect us and tear us apart. An absorbing, sensitive novel that confirms the troubling reality that it’s often the people closest to us who do the most harm.”
? Elizabeth Brundage, author ofAll Things Cease to Appear

"From the first shocking sentence of Gina Sorell'sMothers and Other Strangers, I was hooked on the twisting ride of a woman who receives an inheritance of secrets, debt, and the mess left behind. With stunning prose and the danger of a thriller, Sorell reaches deep into a broken heart and finds what's still beating. I am a fan!"
? Susan Henderson, author ofUp from the Blue

"Gina Sorell has written a complex mystery of the human heart in her poignant debut novel,Mothers and Other Strangers, exploring how the emotional riddle of our parents shapes our lives well into adulthood. To paraphrase Philip Larkin, they screw you up, your mom and dad. Sometimes they intend to hurt you as deeply as they’ve been hurt. The quest in this wise novel is to realize that the path to healing a childhood wound passes through understanding the strangeness of one’s parents, and accepting it, or not. This book is a must read for anyone who has struggled to understand their own parents.”
? Robert Eversz, author ofShooting Elvis