Happy Publication Day!!

Secrets can wrap a family and bind them in silence or tear them apart where pretense of being okay would be the norm. It takes a child sometimes to see the truth by seeing the pain via her eyes.

Addie was brought into this family while her mother was in hospital where there was widowed Emerson whose husband Will had committed suicide, sister Tillie with legs paralysed in an accident where Emerson was driving the car, mother Evie with her health problems, and neighbor Henry who was friends with all but had the biggest secret hidden m about Will’s suicide. All the 4 had their lives interlinked, and it took this child Addie’s entry as a catalyst to open them up.

My first book by Katie Grindeland, all I could say was that it was a sweet read. The story moved slowly delving ito each character’s life and their thoughts. The secrets come out gradually bringing them closer together with each knot unravelled.

The scenes in the book were brought out with careful detailing keeping in line with the characters, some of the lines were poignant. The mystery was kept till the end. Family bonding between the women had me smiling with Henry the odd man out, yet fitting into the paradigm perfectly.

My niggles had me running through the pages fast, the story, though good, was not very engaging to read. I found it difficult to immerse myself into their lives to feel their emotions. Such a story should have had power behind their words, which was missing for me.

Overall, a good read about family and what binds us together – LOVE

I received a digital copy of the book from Edelweiss and the publisher Ooligan Press, and this is my journey into its pages, straight from the heart!!

All my reviews can be found here

The Gifts We Keep is Katie Grindeland’s first book and winner of the 2016 Multnomah County Library Writers Project. Grindeland is from Bellevue, Washington, and graduated from Marylhurst University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in professional writing. When she is not busy working as a 911/Police/Fire Dispatcher in Portland, Oregon, she enjoys hiking and watching The Office on repeat with her two teenagers.

In The Gifts We Keep, dangerous secrets, past tragedies, and a violent obsession are forced to the surface when Emerson and her estranged family agree to care for a ten-year-old Native-Alaskan girl and complete stranger, Addie, in the wake of Addie’s single mother attempting suicide. Emerson has buried her emotions since her husband’s suicide a decade past, maintaining a cold and aloof exterior. Meanwhile, her younger sister, Tillie, avoids her own questions about the accident which left her in a wheelchair. Their mother, Eve, flits through life as though nothing is important. And the handsome neighbor, Henry, maintains a carefree attitude while guilt and secrets eat away at him. If these five can face their true selves, each other, and their past, they just might find a way forward to a life filled with love and happiness.

Publication Date: 16th April 2019

Publisher: Ooligan Press