Surviving Amelia is told from three main points of view. The first is Amelia Earhart, the second, Samantha Barry, a freshman at Barnard, and the third, Amelia’s sister, Muriel. The novel takes place over the course of several months, beginning in late 1979 and ending in early 1980.

Forty-year old Amelia is lost on an island in the Pacific, yet finds herself resurrected in her own sister’s study just outside of Boston. Seventeen-year old Sam Barry is just beginning her life as a coed, trying her best to separate from her needy mother, and her dysfunctional family. And seventy-nine year old Muriel is reeling from the double loss of a son and a husband. Their lives intersect in surprising ways, and long buried secrets come to light. The novel examines the special, powerful intimacy women share, whether they are siblings, best friends or mothers and daughters.