About to turn 50, Carol is asked to take in and raise her partner Gemma's six-year-old niece - this is the story of her triumph over adversity, told with humour and honesty.

This is not just a personal memoir of one lesbian's struggle to become a parent in later life, but it is also the story of how women nurture children in a culture that is not always supportive, but in a community that always is. Ortlip handles the topics of midlife crises, substance abuse and problems of child-rearing with great aplomb.

336 pages

Carol A. Ortlip is a special-education teacher, who has held a variety of jobs from crab-fisher in Alaska to horse-drawn cab driver in Manhattan. She lives in Brattleboro, Vermont.