Many thanks to publisher Bookouture for my spot on this Blog Tour.
Another emotional story which pulled me in slowly through the pages. Author Kerry Fisher had enmeshed a few social issues, rampaging our society within her fictional characters sensitively. It brought home the value of friendship even after death.
Jo and Ginny were the best of friends. Ginny died and Jo brought home her son, Victor, into a family which had already reached a break point.
Having read many of this author’s books, I knew I was in for a detailed slow ride. The author laid the foundations of the characters and the family dynamics in the first half. Jo wanted to keep everyone happy, and sometimes that didn’t work out.
Casual racism and drug addiction were highlighted along with teenage angst. I loved when the husband stood up for Victor against the cruel remarks. There was much to cheer on in the book. The characters developed slowly, and it was last half which kept me attached to my kindle.
Secrets in Ginny’s letters made a pleasant surprise, a great addition to the family drama. Kerry’s writing paved a way for the truth to slowly pervade the lives of the characters. Taking on another woman’s child was difficult, but the love that came it made it totally worth it.
A beautiful read.
I received a ARC from NetGalley and the publisher, and this is my journey into its pages, straight from the heart!! STRICTLY HONEST AND UNBIASED.
All my reviews can be read here
Could you take in your best friend’s child, even if it risked destroying your own family?
Jo had thought that her life – and her heart – was full. With a busy job, a husband and a teenage daughter who is going off the rails, keeping her life running smoothly had already felt hard enough.
But now Jo sits at the funeral of her best friend Ginny, crushed by the loss of a friendship that had endured for thirty years: from college and their first days at work through to settling down and raising their own children.
Against her husband’s wishes, Jo has made a life-changing decision: to take in Ginny’s teenage son Victor and raise him as her own. Despite her misgivings, Jo feels she had no choice: Ginny was a single parent and Victor had no other family who could take care of him.
But Victor’s arrival is about to break open the fragile cracks that were already forming on the surface of Jo’s family life and in her small rural community… and expose a secret that has remained hidden for many years, with devastating consequences.
Publication Date: August 2020
6 Responses
Wonderful review Shalini. This book sounds like it has some very serious themes. I don’t know what I would do in that situation. An interesting position to think about.
I hadn’t heard of this book. Not the HEA I’ve been reading lately, but I do love books that have meat to them and that are culturally relevant. Reminds me a little of Sarah Willis’ book about foster care. Thanks for another great suggestion. My TBR pile keeps growing.
You are going soft, I’ve noticed you are picking up more of these women’s fiction reads.
You are so right. Blood and gore pass by me. I have become a softie… I cry for everything. 🤦🏻♀️
Beautifully written.
I am new to this place, and reading reviews like these inspires me! 🙂