Today, I’m happy to say I am on the blog tour for The Life You Left Behind by Debbie Howells on behalf of Rachel’s Random Resources and Boldwood Books. Thanks to Boldwood Books for the copy of the book to take part today.
Two strangers.
One missed flight.
It only takes a moment to change a life.
One year ago Casey Cassidy was happy. She had great friends, a wonderful teaching job and a busy life – until with one missed flight, everything changes.
One year later Casey knows what it means to find that once-in-a-lifetime love people dream of. But when Ben leaves, her heart is shattered.
Left facing a year of firsts without him, piecing her life back together seems impossible. But then a friend offers her a home in rural France.
In the solitude and emptiness, Casey needs to comes to terms with what’s happened and find a way to move forward. She has no idea where that will take her one year later…
A book that isn’t all sweetness and light, The Life You Left Behind, is a dual timeline, then and now. It is a very well-written story that deals with some very serious issues and does it well
We learn about Ben and Casey Cassidy. The then timeline is the year before Ben leaves, and now is after he has left Casey. This is a very emotional book, one which is a moving and oh, so powerful.Debbie Howells includes subjects such as family, relationships, grief, friendship, and self journeys.
The depth of the writing by the author makes this a book that has the power to tear your heart to pieces as you feel the despair of Casey and the way her life pans out. There is a type of mental health illness that I haven’t heard of before reading this book, solastalgia. It’s a type of grief for climate change. This environmental theme becomes the main way casey attempts to recover and move forward while trying to create what’s happened into something positive as opposed to a negative impact.
A deep, layered story that combines the darkness with elements of lightness in between. Characters that make you want to hug them they are that well-rounded, too.
Debbie Howells has created a book that had me delving into my own psyche as I read this story of Casey and how she coped. The rawness of the emotion makes this a book I will not forget in a hurry.
I was with Casey all the way. I was that immersed that I didn’t want to leave her for any length of time. I will be adding Debbie’s books to my tbr pile and am looking forward to what she does next.
Purchase Link – https://amzn.to/3nOSjyI
Author Bio
While working as long-haul cabin crew in her twenties, Debbie trained as a pilot and qualified as a flying instructor. But as the mother of two small children, she wanted a career she could fit around them and started a wedding flower business, Country Flowers. For thirteen years, Debbie created the natural, seasonal designs she became known for to venues throughout the South East.
It was towards the end of this time she started writing, in a notebook in the shade of her garden on her days off, self-publishing three women’s fiction novels, the third of which, Wildflowers, almost but not quite found her a literary agent.
Pursuing her dream of a traditional publishing deal, she went on to write her first psychological thriller, the Sunday Times bestseller, The Bones of You. Four more have followed including the e-book bestseller The Vow, but it’s another long-awaited dream come true that her women’s fiction novels have now found a home with Boldwood.
Social Media Links
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Bookbub profile
sharonbeyondthebooks.uk 