by Kelly Rimmer
Publisher: Graydon House
Pages: 352
Format: eARC
Buy the Book: Amazon
Goodreads: With her father recently moved to a care facility for his worsening dementia, Beth Walsh volunteers to clear out the family home and is surprised to discover the door to her childhood playroom padlocked. She’s even more shocked at what’s behind it—a hoarder’s mess of her father’s paintings, mounds of discarded papers and miscellaneous junk in the otherwise fastidiously tidy house.
As she picks through the clutter, she finds a loose journal entry in what appears to be her late mother’s handwriting. Beth and her siblings grew up believing their mother died in a car accident when they were little more than toddlers, but this note suggests something much darker. Beth soon pieces together a disturbing portrait of a woman suffering from postpartum depression and a husband who bears little resemblance to the loving father Beth and her siblings know. With a newborn of her own and struggling with motherhood, Beth finds there may be more tying her and her mother together than she ever suspected.
Kritters Thoughts: What a book. Before I start my review, let me spoil my review, I loved this book. This one swept me away and was the perfect read to get me out of a reading funk and keep my attention during the pandemic that was going through our world in March 2020. This is such a good book.
Beth Walsh is the youngest of four children and she has spent quite a few years with her husband trying to start a family. She has reached her goal and they have a healthy baby boy, but motherhood and parenthood is what she thought it was and she doesn't know if this is the life she was meant to have after all. At the same time that the reader is getting to know Beth and her siblings and their families, there are letters and stories from her mother telling her tale of how she met their father and how her life turned out.
I loved the plot, the characters and the way this story was written. The way that the mother's letters and story was interspersed throughout completely worked and everything was clearly marked with names and dates, so the reader knows where they are and who is talking at all times. The author dropped the information needed at just the right time, I wasn't wondering for too long about anything, but the pacing was just right.
I wouldn't say this is one of those books with a current storyline and a historical, it is just two generations telling their story and the reader gets to enjoy how they line up.
Beware this is one of those books that you want a post it note, so you can do a quick family tree so you can keep all the names and the kids and the generations in line. This didn't bother me because once you have it written down you can refer to it, but super helpful to have a guide.
Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel
Ebook 2020 Challenge: 27 out of 100
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one copy of this book free of charge from Harlequin. I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.
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