In commenting on the autobiographical elements in her fiction, Conrad says: "I write my own life over and over again—whether I'm writing about nineteenth-century Nebraska as in My Daniel and Prairie Songs, or the porcelain edge of a bathtub, in Tub People.

It's my life. The main theme that runs through my books, as well as through my life, is acceptance—acceptance of self, sickness, divorce, a place to live, death, and even old age . . . ."

Acceptance is very much at the heart of Holding Me Here. Robin cannot accept the changes in her life after her parents' divorce. Instead of adapting and maturing, she longs for her childhood three years before when her dad was grilling in the back yard and her mother was in the kitchen preparing macaroni salad. Even though she has not used her playroom in a number...