Steps and Exes A Novel of Family Author:Laura Kalpakian Celia Henry owns the most famous bed-and-breakfast in the whole Northwest. Married only once and widowed at twenty-two, Celia has spent a lifetime preaching(and practicing) Unfettered Love, glorying in unions free of matrimony, free of the ties that bind-and that can just as easily strangle. But though the men in her life moved out and moved o... more »n, Celia maintained her affections for their children, acquiring a large extended family of children, step-children, partners, and ex-partners. And the children she nurtured remember their island childhood with wry warmth. When her daughter Bethie announces her engagement, Celia reluctantly agrees to throw a lavish celebration. To this party she must invite everyone in her overextended family: her steps and execes, their current partners and starchy in-laws, as well as a host of island eccentrics. As the big day approaches, Celia senses impending disaster, but nothing prepares her for the fallout when the nuclear family explodes and she must reconstruct the past in order to transform the future.« less