title: The Mistress's Daughter: A Memoir
author:  A. M. Homes 
description: "A compelling, devastating, and furiously good book written with an honesty few of us would risk."<br> -Zadie Smith <br><br> "Fierce and eloquent."<br> -<i>The New York Times Book Review</i> <br><br> "As startling and riveting as her fiction . . . a lacerating memoir in which the formerly powerless child triumphs with the help of a mighty pen."<br> -<i>San Francisco Chronicle</i> <br><br> "Rich in humanity and humor . . . Homes combines an unfussy candor with a deliciously droll, quirky wit. . . . Her energy and urgency become infectious."<br> -<i>USA Today</i> <br><br> "I fell in love with it from the first page and read compulsively to the end."<br> -Amy Tan <br><br> "As a memoirist, A. M. Homes takes a characteristically fierce and fearless approach. And she has a whopper of a personal story to tell."<br> -<i>Chicago Tribune</i>
zlib_text: Sara Woods Expectant Mistress
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  CHAPTER ONE
  
  ADAM was shockingly late for his own engagement party. But worse than that was
  the reason for his lateness. He was thinking of another woman.
  
  In the middle of dressing, checking the fax and answering the ever-ringing
  phone, he’d knocked a photograph from his desk. It was in his hand and he was
  staring at it. His late wife. Stepdaughter Petra.. .and Trish. Slowly his
  tense, irritated expression evaporated. Their last moment together was one
  he’d never forget. His hand shook a little. The photo was replaced. Heavy gold
  cufflinks inserted. Then he was still. The phone and the fax demanded his
  attention but he was oblivious to them. In the middle of the room, he stood
  staring into space——and the past.
  
  He saw her turning to him, her face beautiful in its compassion, her lips
  treacherously parting over pure white teeth. A feeling of profound emotion had
  swept over him, and an awe that he should know such a woman, speak to her, be
  near her.