Marlis Manley

Trophy Girl Marlis Manley

"Marlis Manley's heartfelt novel of the heartland goes nowhere fast in all the best of ways. It moves and moves us." -Michael Martone, author of The Complete Writing of Art Smith

It's summer 1957, and when fourteen-year-old Sandy Turner goes missing-along with one of her late mother's hidden scrapbooks-Aunt Maggie can think of only one place the girl might be.

Frank Haggard, the race-car driver in those yellowing news clippings, assumes the girl claiming to be his daughter is a fan acting on a dare, until Maggie tracks them down. Memories of his annulled marriage to Maggie's sister flood over him, and the timing couldn't be worse. With the first-ever National Championship for stock cars a week away, the last thing he needs is a child-custody battle with Maggie-as determined as she is beautiful. When the car he's planned to pilot is turned over to a younger driver, Frank and Maggie make the riskiest deal of their lives-her savings for a race car, but if Frank wins, he gives up his daughter.