Tag: Family Drama

This was an honest portrayal of how grief can both numb and blind the people affected by a tragedy.

I thought that the author did a really good job of setting the scene. It was a scenic, family-friendly, small town that served as a juxtaposition to what Louisa was experiencing. It was nice to see how these two opposing things set against each other.

In that regard, I thought the creation of the characters was also well-done. Although I could not relate to Louisa on a personal level (thankful for that), I most definitely related on a professional level.

I have been a freelance writer for over five years, so I totally got her feelings on writing assignments, deadlines, and the realization that editors only care about your work – no matter how much you want to think they actually like you.

That, I think, made me more sympathetic to her personal struggles, because I came from a place of at least partial understanding.

I guessed the “big reveal” pretty much from the beginning, but I was intrigued by how the author rolled out the information. I loved how the characters were fully formed (both to the reader and each other within the story) before things got more complicated.

I also found Robin and Leah’s plot line to be engaging. At first, I thought it was just in place as a holder for Louisa’s story, but I thought the author did a fine job of Leah’s eventual truthfulness with her mother.

She was also a catalyst for a major turning point in the story, which was unexpected. That was well-done also.

While I liked just about everything in the book, especially the concept of art and the thought of the beach as a canvas, I did think that a few revelations seemed forced. They didn’t bother me, just seemed to come out of nowhere.

But major props for one of the most thrilling, page-turning climaxes that wasn’t in a crime/suspense/thriller book. Sometimes, family drama has a more subtle turning point. Not the case here. You have to hang on for this one!

I would definitely recommend this book. The message of forgiveness (of self, of others) and recognizing one’s own errors, but recognizing the ability to correct them and move forward with life are great reminders. Definitely pick this one up!

Author Bio:

After a varied career, Emma Davies once worked for a design studio where she was asked to provide a fun and humorous (and not necessarily true) anecdote for their website. She wrote the following: ‘I am a bestselling novelist currently masquerading as a thirty something mother of three.’ Well the job in the design studio didn’t work out but she’s now a forty something mother of three and is happy to report the rest of her dream came true.

After many years as a finance manager she now writes full time and is far happier playing with words than numbers. She lives with her husband, three children, and two guinea pigs in rural Shropshire where she writes in all the gaps in between real life. It’s a county she adores, her love of its beautiful people and landscapes providing endless inspiration for her books, and in fact the only thing that would make Shropshire more idyllic is if it were by the sea. 

I had a very difficult time reading this book. Not because it was bad – not by any stretch of the imagination.

But because it hit me on two different levels.

Heidi loses her husband early on (that’s no spoiler, the opening page is literally his death notice). I felt this gut punch.

Not because I have lost my husband, but we have had to be in separate places for the past month (and still have another month to go).

Everything Heidi felt about wondering how to go about life alone, how to get things done without her partner, and trying to find the strength to just keep going – all of these things screamed out to me.

I could totally relate to her. Again, not because of a loss, but because once you find that other half of you, trying to continue without him becomes incredibly difficult. It’s interesting, because I was happy and independent before him, not unlike Heidi.

And it’s not that I have lost myself. It’s just that you don’t realize how much you share the burdens until that person isn’t there anymore.

On another level however, there was even more of a gut punch for me, because Johnny’s last message to Heidi revealed a secret that neither of them ever talked about.

I’m going to put SPOILER ALERT here, because I think it kind of is. But I have to explain why it was so emotional for me. So if you don’t want to know any of it, skip to below the photo of the blog tour.

SPOILER (kind of)

I’m adopted. I’ve often thought about my birth mother and father but have never taken the steps to find them. I know a little about them, so I could. But I haven’t.

Heidi and Johnny’s decisions were easy for me to project onto my own birth parents. It was a difficult yet enlightening perspective, because I haven’t often thought of what THEY thought about me.

I found myself wondering if I would react or feel like William.

This book made me really think about that. And it wasn’t easy to do so – it was uncomfortable. Because I don’t have an answer.

Okay, back to the review.

Those two aspects made me much more invested in the book than the average reader might be, I think. Others may find it to be a simple story.

Regardless, it was well-written, and it really spoke to me. I would definitely recommend it.

Author Bio:
Amy Miller is the pseudonym of Amy Bratley, who started her writing life working on magazines and newspapers. She has previously written three women’s fiction novels published by Pan Macmillan, the first of which was a bestseller in Italy. Her day job is being a freelance managing editor of both a vintage interiors magazine and a food magazine, two subjects she’s passionate about. Amy lives in Dorset with her husband and two children.