On Tour 03/19/26-04/30/26 “Evening Begins The Day” by Jessica Brilliant Keener

Release Date: March 24, 2026

About The Book:

After she discovers her husband’s infidelity, Rachel Cohen, reeling from hurt and shame, escapes to a rental house in the idyllic town of Woodbury, near Boston. She winds up next door to her colleague Cynthia Meyer, who-unlike Rachel-seems to have everything in this town where parents are high achievers, children excel, and problems are sealed inside well-tended houses. Cynthia’s a successful VP in corporate giving, who helped fund Rachel’s latest environmental project for elementary kids. Cynthia’s husband is a pioneering researcher in breakthrough cancer treatments. Their only child, Lauren, is set to graduate high school in the spring.

Pretenses shatter the day an ambulance pulls up in front of the Meyers’ house and Rachel watches helplessly as Lauren is carried away on a stretcher. Amid their turmoil, Rachel and the Meyers’ lives begin to intertwine. When they adopt an ancient spiritual practice called the Counting of the Omer, it leads them down unconventional pathways for answers.

Evening Begins the Day shines a light on the complexity of two families in crisis and their transformation from isolation to community, loneliness to hope and joy.

About The Author:

Jessica Keener’s bestselling debut novel, Night Swim, was followed by her collection of award-winning stories, Women in Bed. Her second novel, Strangers in Budapest, was an Indie Next pick, a Southern Independent Bookseller Association bestseller, and a “best new book” selection by Entertainment Weekly. She has been listed in The Pushcart Prize under ‘outstanding writers’ and granted writing fellowships from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, Brown University, Wesleyan University, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, as well as a women’s leadership fellowship from the Omega Institute in New York. Her more than 100 feature articles and essays have appeared in The Boston Globe, WBUR’s Cognoscenti, O magazine, Lilith magazine, Psychology Today, and the anthology: Alone Together, winner of the 2021 Washington State Book Prize. Jessica lives with her husband, an attorney, in Brookline, MA. https://jessicabrilliantkeener.com/

Social Media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessicakeenerauthor

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Jessicakeenerauthor

Book Blurbs:

Expertly weaves the ancient wisdom of elders with some very modern problems-with revelatory, astonishing results.” -Alex George, author of The Paris Hours and the #1 Indie Next List Pick, A Good American

“A magnificent work of fiction. With spare, gorgeous insight and a compelling sense of pace, [Keener] maps how small, everyday moments drive the larger, at times irrevocable, events of a life.” -Dawn Tripp, author of bestselling novels Georgia and Jackie

“With an emotional sensitivity and clarity of prose that reminds me of writers like Ann Napolitano and Elizabeth Strout, Jessica Keener brings to life a tale of two families in crisis and how these modern skeptical people stumble into an ancient spiritual practice that haltingly and convincingly brings them to hope, love, and solace. This is a beautiful and ultimately uplifting book.” -Elizabeth Letts, #1 New York Timesbestselling author of The Eighty Dollar Champion, and the novels, Finding Dorothy and The Ride of Her Life

“What does it mean to totally trust someone you love, be it a partner or child, your job, or even the world around you? Keener’s new novel springs from an emotional affair and soars into the lives of two very different families in a way that’s both propulsive and spiritual. Deeply immersive, comforting, inspiring, and real, Evening Begins the Day made me see and experience these indelible characters’ world-and my own-differently.”-Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You, Cruel Beautiful World, and Days of Wonder

“With its intergenerational cast and rotating perspectives, this emotional novel about the challenges of marriage and parenting-in a world wracked by climate emergency and social injustice-becomes an unlikely page-turner. The character of Lauren vibrantly represents so many teens, throbbing with disappointment, a wavering hope, and love for a planet in peril.” -Daphne Kalotay, author of The Archivists, winner of the Grace Paley Prize

“A riveting journey of hurt and healing, questioning and hope.” -ELIZABETH GRAVER, author of Kantika, winner of the National Jewish Book Award

Bloggers On Tour:

March 19th- Books and Coffee MX https://instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx

March 21st- Plains Reading https://instagram.com/plains_reading

March 27th- CMT Loves Wine and Books https://instagram.com/cmtloveswineandbooks

March 30th- Books Love And Understanding https://instagram.com/booksloveandunderstanding

April 2nd- Marilyn Goncalves https://instagram.com/marilynjgon

April 2nd- Sarahs Bookish Reviews https://instagram.com/sarahs.bookish.reviews

April 3rd- Subakka Bookstuff https://instagram.com/subakka.bookstuff

April 9th- Rozier Reads and Wine https://instagram.com/rozierreadsandwine

April 15th- Shooks Books https://instagram.com/shook_sbooks

April 17th- Texacali Books https://instagram.com/texacalibooks