The Teahouse by the Tracks

Janet Charbray is scatterbrained, effusive, and charming. At age 62 she finds herself retired, widowed, and living alone in an unfamiliar suburb. On a whim she opens a teashop. Little does she know the surprise in store on her first day of business.

Janet soon becomes involved with an unlikely collection of lost souls. Charles Grapnel, Janet's landlord and neighbor, is a scandal-plagued former college professor. Ben Shriver is the shy, unknowable young man who rents Charles' attic. Ann Firth is a 60-something British transplant whose only son has joined a monastery. And Paula Pereira is a beautiful young Brazilian facing the possibility of deportation.

All are haunted by past sadness and paralyzed by an uncertain future. Yet together they find friendship and sanctuary-till a sudden tragedy ravages the haven they have created.

Will they retreat into their sorrow? Or expand into the world around them? And how will Janet come to terms with a past secret that is now a tragic part of her present?

With unique voice and vision, debut novelist Eric Schoeniger explores what it means for people to be both together and alone, and tests the limits of selfishness and selflessness. Straddling the line between literary and commercial fiction-and in turns hilarious, sad, light, and profound-The Teahouse by the Tracks examines the vagaries of life as we now live it. And confirms that it's never too late for rebirth.