- ASIN: B08S9VLY9Q
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing (June 22, 2021)
- Print: 483 pages
Willy Cherrymill and his stepdaughter, Lacey, are deeply bruised by a past brimming with unanswered questions. It’s been thirty years since May DuBerry, Willy’s young wife and Lacey’s mother, abandoned them both, leaving Willy to raise Lacey alone.
Lacey Cherrymill is smart, stubborn, and focused. She’s also single mother to a young daughter recently diagnosed with a devastating illness. The last thing she needs to think about right now is the betrayal that rocked her childhood. Reluctantly, she has returned to her rural beginnings, a former dairy farm in the Maryland countryside, and to Willy, a man steeped in his own disappointments and all the guilt that goes with them.
Together they will pool their wobbly emotional resources to take care of Lacey’s daughter, Tasha, all the while trying to skirt the issue of May’s mysterious disappearance. But try as she might, Lacey can’t leave it alone. Just where is May DuBerry Cherrymill and why did she leave them, and how is it that they have never talked about the wreckage she left behind?
A Hand to Hold in Deep Water is a deeply felt narrative about mothers and daughters, the legacy of secrets, the way we make a family, and the love of those who walk us through our deepest pain. It is about the way we are tethered to one another and how we choose to wear those bindings. These are characters you won’t soon forget and, more so, won’t want to leave behind when you turn the last page.
Shawn Nocher's compelling short stories have appeared in numerous literary magazines, including SmokeLong Quarterly, Pithead Chapel, Eunoia Review, and MoonPark Review, and she has been longlisted or won honorable mentions from both SmokeLong Quarterly and Glimmer Train.
She earned her master of arts in writing at Johns Hopkins University, has given wings to two children, and lives with her husband and an assortment of sassy rescue animals in Baltimore, Maryland, where she writes in a room of her own. This is her first novel.
REVIEW:
What an ride this book was!
Not everyone will be comfortable reading it. The subject matter is hard to take. Stories of any form of abuse always hit me hard, having been through it in my life.
This story I am middle of the ground with it. I thought it was well thought out, the characters had you in the palm of their hands. You needed to know those secrets. Unfortunately, that wasn't as put together as I had hoped. I still have many questions. I don't like that.
For a debut novel, it is good! I know some of you will love it! So be sure to give it a go!
3/5
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**Compensation may be earned from the link within. An ecopy was provided to facilitate this review. Opinions are owned by Freda's Voice. Freda's Voice is not responsible for the prize shipment, lost, damaged or stolen prizes.
Nice review. Probably not for me though
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