In the tradition of Anita Shreve and Sue Miller, Simmons delivers a psychologically charged novel about the power and failure of family.

Journalist and suburban mom Claire Cooper suffers from panic disorder. Most of her anxieties seem irrational, nothing that can't be fixed with the help of some Xanax. But late one stormy summer night, when her husband, Sam, is away on one of his frequent business trips, Claire's fears come to life. She discovers an intruder has broken into her young daughter's bedroom. She watches helplessly as he picks up her sleeping child from her bed. Desperate to protect her family, Claire puts herself in the line of fire and utters the plea that will undo her: "Take me instead."

As she drives away in the kidnapper's car, Claire fears for her children, but not for herself. And she can't help noticing the reversal in her marriage -- for the first time in ten years, Sam will not know where she is.

For the next week, Claire is tied to a bed in a strange motel room, the intruder her only com-panion. She is forced to lie still and contemplate the reasons for this assault on her family. Is this just a random crime, or something more sinister? Has the shadowy past that she tried so hard to leave behind finally caught up with her? Day after day, she goes deeper into herself, reevaluating her marriage and her role as a mother, and unburying the source of her crippling anxiety. In seven days she will step out to the very brink of her soul -- perhaps never to return.

A riveting debut novel that will appeal to fans of Sue Miller and Janet Fitch, "Standing Still" is a powerful exploration of the darker side of mother-hood and marriage.

'A beautifully paced novel that will keep you guessing right until the end' Pam Lewis When Ann's granddaughter Ellie, asks for her help on a school project on family history, Ann thinks this will be the perfect opportunity to spend time with her. But as they work together uncovering the past, questions about Ann's early life begin to emerge. What did happen to Ann's first child? Was her life with Theo quite as idyllic as it seemed from the outside? And what happened to cause her mother and father's acrimonious split, can she really trust her mother's version of events? And as secrets from the past seem in danger of being exposed, new secrets emerge about Ann's son and daughter-in-law, secrets which threaten to tear the whole family apart. As events unfold in the present day and we learn what happened during a summer thirty years ago, Simmons depicts the unravelling of a family in this gripping psychological thriller. Praise for Kelly Simmons' writing... 'Twisty, psychologically deft and wildly original, it'll have you guessing until the very end. Utterly mesmerizing.' Megan Abbott, author of The Fever and Dare Me 'A smart, simmering page turner' New York Journal of Books 'Gorgeously written and fully immersive.' Kate Moretti, author of The Vanishing Year and Blackbird Season 'Electrifying . . . The perfect read for a stormy night, Simmons's suspenseful tale contains nary a wasted word' Publishers Weekly