“Tuesday the twentieth of May started out as a day much like any other. I woke at around six thirty and spent a few minutes stretching under the sheets, a usual preliminary to putting my feet on the floor. And then, sitting up, and swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I sent a message to my daughter, wherever she was, telling her I loved her and always would.”
Seashell Season
By Holly Chamberlin
For Verity Preston every year in her Maine beach town is bittersweet. She’s worked hard to make a go of her life despite the heartbreak and hard circumstances that she’s been through but knowing that one day she might see her daughter again gives her hope.
When her daughter, Gemma, was just a baby, she was abducted by her father. Verity has been waiting for sixteen years to see her daughter and now she’s received the phone call she’s been waiting for all this time. Alan and “Marniâ€, as he has been calling their baby have been found.
Verity is not sure how to approach her daughter and as she brings her home she realizes that they have a long road ahead. Gemma/Marni, always thought that her father had saved her from an abusive mother but the more she sees how her mother lives and the people that surround her the imagine she had in her mind doesn’t match this woman.
Told in alternating viewpoints, both women will have to learn to trust one another and accept that their new lives, and hopefully build a strong relationship going forward, one based on forgiveness and starting over.
For such an emotionally charged story, there were times I didn’t quite feel the angst or sadness that each woman must have felt. So while I wanted a bit more of an emotional pull I still found this a good beach read that kept me entertained.
Source: Advance reading copy
I cannot imagine the despair of a parent (especially a mother) whose child has been abducted by the spouse or the circumstances that would prompt such action. Yet cases like this hit the news all the time.
Why does a Maine setting always sound beachy and relaxing? There are so many of those out there these days, but this sounds like it could be potentially a bit more dark and dramatic! I suppose she didn’t want the story to be a downer for a beach read?
What an awful situation to go through. I can’t even imagine. A friend of mine’s boyfriend is dealing with some of the issues Verity must have gone through upon meeting her daughter again after all those years. His ex told their children lies about him and refused to let him see the kids for a number of years. He’s now trying to develop a relationship with them. They are confused and torn between the truth and the lies and unsure of who to trust.
This sounds like a worthwhile read.