Next of Kin, by Kate Langdon, sees two generations of women thrown back together in a time of grief. The summary says: "Thirty-six-year-old career-woman-extraordinaire Alex lives in Sydney in a fabulous apartment in Darlinghurst, her heart set on a partnership in the company she's been slogging her guts out for. That's until her sister, Caroline, rings with some shocking news - their father has died. Distraught, Alex returns home to Auckland, to find both her mother and her sister's lives in chaos. Her plans to return to Sydney, and her job, are thwarted by the drama she encounters and her sense of duty to her sister and mother. But with her sister's crazy mood swings and her mother's downright bizarre and adolescent behavior they are both testing her sense of family duty. Sister Caroline's marriage to Rory is on the rocks, as is her sanity, as she unknowingly struggles with postnatal depression. The mother of two small children, she finds herself resentfully trapped in the daily grind of full-time mothering. She used to be a successful lawyer and now here she is, stuck inside the house with two demanding children every day - it's all Rory's fault, he was the one who wanted children so badly. And now her father has unexpectedly up and died, her mother is a helpless mess, and her little sister is back (her lucky, childless and husbandless sister), and it's simply all too much for Caroline to cope with. Sixty-six-year-old Penny has lost her husband of forty-two years. A devoted and dedicated wife for so long, she struggles to deal with the implications of her husband's death. What on earth is she supposed to do now? What about all the retirement plans they made together? Outwardly, she grieves for the man she loved and lived with for so many years, but inside the part of herself she's kept hidden for so long is fighting to break free ... and she's powerless to stop it. Suddenly, in her mid-sixties, she's free to discover just who she really is. If only her daughters could understand just how much of herself she's sacrificed for her family over the years ... but can they? Sometimes she's not even sure they realise she is human. Penny embarks on a path of much-longed-for travel and discovery. Not wanting to cause the girls unnecessary concern, she doesn't disclose where she's heading or who she's meeting. When Alex and Caroline discover their mother has fled to the other side of the world, they are livid. And worried. It would be just like their unworldly mother to have her life savings ripped off by some conman. There's no choice for the girls but to launch a rescue mission to find their mother and bring her back home. But does she need rescuing? It soon becomes clear to Alex and Caroline that things are not quite as they seem and, astonishingly, there seems to be much more to their mother than the girls ever knew." Next of Kin is out in October 2015.