The Hours Between Us

Kai Ingersohn was motivated to become a psychiatrist after a childhood of dysfunction with her tempestuous and manic-depressive grandmother, Dumpling. Now divorced, in private practice, and raising two teenagers, she starts work with Stephanie, a young grad student with acute leukemia, who has returned to Charleston and its mystic healing waters and marsh to fight for her life. Stephanie braves the revelations of shocking family secrets, while Kai seeks peace with her own past as the therapy unfolds. Both women emerge with new capacities for love, life, and spiritual truths. This is a powerful work from a novelist whose story reflects her real-life experiences as a psychiatrist in Charleston. Set against a lush Lowcountry backdrop of Spanish moss, salt marshes, silent oaks, and the pounding sea, The Hours Between Us is an artful exploration of the heartbreaking struggles and unbreakable spirits of two extraordinary women.


Carol Graf received her medical degree at the Medical University of South Carolina and completed her psychiatric residency there as well. She has practiced psychiatry in the Charleston, South Carolina area for more than thirty years. She now lives on a salt marsh with her husband. Together, they have four children and eight grandchildren. This is her first novel.