Ingredients . . .
3¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
¹⁄³ cup sugar
2½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
²⁄³ teaspoon salt
¾ cup butter, room temperature
¾ cup dried apricots, diced
¹⁄³ cup candied ginger, diced
2 tablespoons grated lemon peel
1 cup buttermilk
Parchment paper (optional)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cut in butter. Add the apricots, ginger, and lemon peel. Add the buttermilk and stir until just mixed. You may need to add a little more buttermilk, depending on the humidity level of the day. Knead for five turns, folding and pressing with the heels of your hands. Form into two logs and place on greased baking sheets (or use parchment paper instead).
Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes. Cut into hearty triangular wedges. Serves one entire book group. Enjoy!
—Recipe from Morgan Sheehan
“Sheehan’s writing is lively and vivid.” —The New York Times
“The Tiger in the House is teeming with excitement and heart-stirring emotion. A natural storyteller, Sheehan will draw you in with her finely crafted characters and hold you tight until the very end.” —Heather Gudenkauf
Delia Lamont has had it. Though she loves her job at Portland, Maine’s child services agency, its frustrations have left her feeling burned out and restless. She’s ready to join her carefree sister Juniper and start a seaside bakery, celebrating and serving life’s sweetness for a change.
Then the call comes: a five-year-old girl has been found at the side of the road. She reveals that her first name is Hayley, but little more. The only clues to her family lead to a shadowy web of danger that reaches closer to Delia herself than she would ever guess.
As she seeks to discover where Hayley belongs, Delia is forced to reexamine her own painful history. With no guide but her own flawed instincts, Delia must decide how deep to venture into the unknown, whether in shaping the destiny of the child who has no one else to turn to—or in exploring the fierce dark corners of her own soul.
“The Tiger in the House is at once terrifying and tender, a tribute to this writer’s range in the realm of domestic drama. I read it once, and then I read it all over again. Stop what you’re doing and settle down with this one.”—Jacquelyn Mitchard
“I love Jacqueline Sheehan’s books because they’re about real life with exciting, breathtaking twists. The Tiger In the House is a gripper. From the start where we meet a five year old girl without a last name standing on the side of the road to the ending I wasn’t expecting, I felt like holding my breath. What a great read.”—Cathy Lamb
“The Tiger in the House is an absorbing story about two sisters—the strengths and struggles they share, and the secrets they don’t. Delia is a compelling heroine, sensitively rendered. Jacqueline Sheehan is a perceptive observer of the complexities of family relationships in the face of tragedy.” —Emily Arsenault
Historical Fiction Based on Real History