Lifesaving Lessons: Notes from an Accidental Mother

"Famed swordfish boat captain Linda Greenlaw faces her greatest battle with nature--a newly adopted teenage daughter Linda Greenlaw isn't a woman who shies away from a challenge--a nationally renowned swordfish boat captain made famous in the film The Perfect Storm, Greenlaw is also a bestselling author and a television celebrity. Through hard work and determination, she had created a life of peaceful independence, living on a rugged island off the coast of Maine. Then came Mariah. A troubled fifteen-year-old, Mariah arrives on the island to stay with her uncle, an island newcomer and seemingly normal guy. The entire community is rocked when it is revealed that Mariah has suffered terrible abuse at his hands, and the island comes together to rescue the teenager from further harm. Alone and at risk, Mariah needs a guardian and the island residents nominate Linda, who is not exactly the picture of maternal warmth. A remarkably candid and tenderly funny memoir, Lifesaving Lessons follows this unexpected mother-daughter pair as they navigate their new life together, learning to trust themselves and each other and forge the loving family that neither of them knew they needed. "-- "Life was pretty good for Linda Greenlaw. Her job and her lifestyle gave her the independence and freedom she so craved, she had a good relationship, and a blissful quiet home. And then one day the peace she so craved and valued that was an integral part of life on her beloved island was shattered. Enter Mariah, the fifteen-year-old niece of an island newcomer. She was a troubled girl from a broken home. In a startling and frightening turn of events, Mariah revealed that she had been subject to grave abuses at the hands of her uncle and had to escape. Linda finds herself suddenly the legal guardian and de-facto mother figure for a surly, neglected, and deeply frightened teenage girl"--