National best seller and Today show Book Club selection, Broken for You is the story of two women in self-imposed exile whose lives are transformed when their paths intersect. Stephanie Kallos's debut novel is a work of infinite charm, wit and heart. It is also a glorious homage to the beauty of broken things.

When we meet septuagenarian Margaret Hughes, she is living alone in a mansion in Seattle with only a massive collection of valuable antiques for company. Enter Wanda Schultz, a young woman with a broken heart who has come west to search for her wayward boyfriend. Both women are guarding dark secrets and have spent many years building up protective armor against the outside world. As their tentative friendship evolves, the armor begins to fall away and Margaret opens her house to the younger woman. This launches a series of unanticipated events, leading Margaret to discover a way to redeem her cursed past, and Wanda to learn the true purpose of her cross-country journey.

Both funny and heartbreaking, Broken for You is a testament to the saving graces of surrogate families and shows how far the tiniest repair jobs can go in righting the world's wrongs.

Praise for Broken for You

December 2004 “The Today Show” Book Club pick (selected by Sue Monk Kidd, author of The Secret Life of Bees)

• A Book Sense Reading Group Suggestion Top Ten Pick

• A Book Sense Selection

• A Library Journal Best First Novelist of 2005

• Winner of the 2005 Pacific Northwest Bookseller Association Award

• Winner of the Washington State Book Award for Fiction

• Quill Book Award finalist for Debut Author of the Year

• Adapted for the stage by Book-it Repertory Theatre (Seattle, WA)

• Sold in 10 countries

Theater veteran Kallos debuts with a dazzling mosaic of intersecting lives and fate...Kallos has a rare, deft way with whimsy, dream sequences and hallucinations. Comparisons to John Irving and Tennessee Williams would not be amiss in this show-stopping debut. — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“This is ultimately a work of repair and redemption. . . . Kallos has given us a compelling, richly layered story reminiscent of works by John Irving and Anne Tyler in its bittersweet humor and well-drawn characters. Carol Shields also comes to mind for the sharp attention to domestic detail and insight into the tenuous relationships of contemporary life. . . . Recommended for all fiction collections.” —Jenn B. Stidham, Library Journal (starred review)

“[A] dreamy, powerful tale of familial warring, secrets and redemption . . . . This haunting and memorable debut is reminiscent of early [Margaret] Atwood, peopled by lovably imperfect and eccentric characters.” —Publishers Weekly

“Tikkun olam is a Hebrew phrase that means ‘repair the world,’ and this imperative serves as the narrative catalyst of Broken for You. . . . This is a novel of redemption.” —Susan Coll, Washington Post

“Stephanie Kallos’s lovely and heartfelt first novel is a gift. A story of broken hearts and broken promises, it is also the story of the ways we put things back together—messily, beautifully, and ultimately triumphantly. Kallos is a writer to watch, and one who, mercifully, still believes in happy endings.” —Sheri Holman, author of The Dress Lodger, The Mammoth Cheese, and Witches on the Road Tonight.

 “In this sparkling debut novel, Stephanie Kallos has created an extraordinary testament to the power of love and forgiveness. Broken For You is a big-hearted book that pulses with life.” —Tova Mirvis, author of The Outside World and The Ladies Auxiliary.