Behind the Pine Curtain

A woman driven out of her small Texas hometown as a teenager for being gay returns fifteen years later, now a bestselling author, to settle her late father's estate. What begins as a brief obligation stretches into weeks as she confronts the town that cast her out, a family business she never wanted, and the woman who once held her heart. The pull between the life she built far away and the feelings she never fully left behind forms the emotional core of Gerri Hill's quietly powerful novel.

Abby Craden brings warmth and restraint to the performance, giving each character a distinct presence while keeping the emotional undercurrent steady. Her measured delivery suits Hill's character-driven pacing, letting tension between old wounds and rekindled longing accumulate without rushing. At under seven hours, the listen moves efficiently while giving the central relationship room to breathe, a balance that earned the novel a Golden Crown Literary Award.