“This is a superbly rendered story of addiction and Hugo is exquisitely exacting in her portrayal of the progression of drug dependency and the impact on everyone involved. Sharp, sensitive and insightful, Under an Indiana Sky is an important novel, one of darkness and loss, but also one of courage, unexpected kindness and hope.”

― Donna Everhart, USA Today bestselling author of Women of a Promiscuous Nature

We all know someone whose life has been touched.

Denise has been suspicious of her sister Angie’s boyfriend, Brock, from the start and not only because Angie wants time off from caring for their disabled mother to date him, which means Denise has to pick up the slack. Exactly what “business” is this shady guy in? Even Brock’s mother Nora, a widowed, well-known artist enjoying her new romance, would like to know that.

Only a few observant people have an idea what might be going on after Angie is injured and pain pills are prescribed at the hospital. Denise’s daughter Julie, just fourteen, notices as Angie sickens. Mercedes, a bar keeper friend to Brock, realizes what he’s into and then, the danger he’s in–and why.

One of them will die. And then another.

The police will call that death an accident, too. But maybe they didn’t see a reason to consider murder? Can the guilty and the betrayed survivors trust and forgive each other? Enough to work together to bring the biggest dealer to justice? Are hope and tenderness ever possible again?

A novel perfect for fans of Dopesick and Long Bright River

Author Spotlight

About Lynne Hugo

Connect with Lynne on her website – Lynne Hugo

I write in black Wal-Mart capri sweatpants. They don’t start out as capris, but I routinely shrink them in the drier by accident. And I always buy black because it doesn’t show where I’ve wiped the chocolate off my hands. My previous high grade of “below average” in Domestic Achievement has dropped somewhat. But I’m less guilty about it now. I lose myself in crafting language by a window with bird feeders hanging in the branches of a Chinese elm towering over the house. When I come up for air, I hike by the ponds and along the river in a nearby forest with my dog, Cassie. My husband, with whom I planted that elm as a bare root sapling, joins us when he can.

Lynne Hugo is an American author whose roots are in New England. A National Endowment For the Arts Fellowship recipient, she has also received repeat individual artist grants from the Ohio Arts Council and the Kentucky Foundation for Women. Her publications include thirteen novels as well as a memoir, Where the Trail Grows Faint: A Year In the Life of A Therapy Dog Team, which won the Riverteeth Creative Nonfiction Book Prize. Her latest novels are The Language of Kin, A Matter of Mercy: 10th Anniversary Edition, and Mothers of Fate. Her forthcoming novel is Under An Indiana Sky (October 13, 2026). She has also published two books of poetry and a children’s book. While the bulk of her time goes to her writing, Lynne is also a licensed, practicing psychotherapist. She lives with her husband, a college professor and photographer, in the Midwest. The couple are parents of two, have four grandchildren, and an energetic beagle/Lab mix who excels at swimming, retrieving tennis balls, and terrorizing squirrels. In her spare time, Lynne loves to hike, do water aerobics, read, and spend time with their rowdy extended family.