Stepping in the Write Direction

Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall may not be the book you expected it to be, because it’s so much better than what you could ever have envisioned. It is so riveting a story, I barely took any time to highlight passages. The narrative pulls readers along, why stop for any reason and delay finding out what the next development will be? During the trial portion of the book in Chapter 54, I literally silenced the Audible narration of my Kindle edition to turn each page myself, desperate to see how the story would end, and just when you think it’s over, new developments arise.  This is an immersive story, the kind that might pull a reader out of a months long reading slump, and all the details are best left for their own discovery. Suffice it to say this story hits on soulmate love, passion, betrayal, loss, grief, love for children and family, wealth, farming, and substance abuse. No stone is left unturned, and all the loose ends get tied up before the story ends. At the time I starte...

I thoroughly enjoyed Sea Wife by Amity Gage. I love to sail, and as a child we spent summers at a large area lake. I had one of those Kool cigarette sailboats which actually had a styrafoam hull, which we fiberglassed. Admittedly I do have a soft spot for books that involve sea voyages and sailing. In this book husband Michael talks his wife Juliet into buying a sailboat and taking their 7 and 3 yr old children on an extended sea voyage.  The wife has experienced some kind of trauma stemming from her childhood, and her PTSD has gotten worse after the births of their two children. The couple is also having problems in their marriage, as couples sometimes do when redefining their roles and responsibilities once children arrive. Michael hopes the time together on the sailing adventure could be healing for both of them. After much discussion Juliet finally gives her husband the green light for their yearlong family sailboat cruise. Later, post voyage, a therapist she works with observe...