Rebecca L Marsh

I didn't need any introduction to Rebecca Marsh. I've read three of her books. I guess the fact I've read more than one more or less confirms what I think of her as author. Her skill is taking a tragedy or trauma, cramming it full of heartbreak, managing to wring out every last bit of emotion from her readers, but then bringing the story to an uplifting end. And…manages to leave you wanting more. How's that for skill?

The tragedy in this is quite a whopper, but it's all about dealing with loss, facing a different future and finding hope in what that brings. Not just for the main character, Marissa, and her eight-year-old daughter, but Marissa's brother too, who faces a different kind of upset. Cleverly done, it's powerful, emotional, poignant, but Marsh very subtly gives you confidence that you will turn that frown upside down by the end.

As for the wanting more…well, in this case, not a problem: there is a sequel (don't panic, they're both stand-alone!). So it was with the greatest of pleasure that I dived straight into the next book.… (plus d'informations)

The back story in this novel was rather neatly done, I thought. Beth became a child psychologist to help troubled children…her own abusive childhood was her motivation. She finds a challenge in Erin, a young teenager who killed her father. She won't reveal why, and Beth, ducking procedural rules a bit, thinks the only way she can get her to talk is to tell her all about her own childhood. It's risky, but Beth, feels a compulsion to find out the truth and do all she can to keep Erin out of prison.

It's a shocking story, but a compelling one and very skilfully handled by the author, using Beth's story to coax Erin and culminates unexpectedly with a link between them.

This is a story about a difficult subject, but written in an easy, flowing style, with credible dialogue and believable characters. Beth's discovery of her real father and his subsequent temporary absence from her life raised my eyebrows a bit, as it was a little 'convenient', but the story-telling and the way Marsh combines what are, effectively, two stories is quite original, so my eye-brow raising was soon forgotten about.

Well told, well written, well structured with a nice neat, tidy ending.… (plus d'informations)

Two families, two tragic histories. Infertility, abuse, grief, decisions. One baby. Oh gosh, it all sounds a bit sad, doesn't it?

But…it's a beautifully written story that handles the grief of one woman's loss of a sister and her own infertility, and the torment of another who's pregnancy is threatened by an abusive partner and has to make decisions about her future that no woman should ever have to make.

The situations of both women sound desperate, but the author handles each with sympathy and compassion. It's a book that's hard to put down because you can't see how either woman is going achieve any resolution to their respective problems. And that's what makes it compelling.

Marsh hits just the right level of poignancy. Wonderful.
… (plus d'informations)

“Where hope is found” is an intense emotionally-driven story about a young woman, Marissa, dealing with horrendous loss and desperately trying to make it through to the other side of her overwhelming grief.

With the help of her family, including her brother Owen and their children, Marissa relocates to a nearby residential island where she struggles to find a footing that will allow her to heal.

In the grips of the terrible irony of grief and healing, Marissa cannot recover until she allows herself to experience the full extent of her emotions (all of them), which won’t happen until her own subconscious mind believes that she is truly ready to bear them. For the reader, on the outside, looking in, this grief-to-healing journey feels authentic, uncertain and frightening - it is all too possible that Marissa will lose everything she has left to live for, including herself.

It’s hard not to be touched by the subject matter, and although this story may be intense and difficult to read in some places, we feel a raw connection with these characters- Marissa, Owen, and the children - and can’t help but feel, as we witness their struggles and share in their pain, that hope and healing for them all is both possible and within reach.

I won’t tell you how it ends (no spoilers here) but this is a lovely story, sad in many parts and sweet in many others, and the author is very skillful in telling it.

A big thank you to the author, Rebecca L Marsh, for a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts presented are my own.… (plus d'informations)