When Rachel Croft wakes up on her family's boat in Bermuda, it's to sunshine and yet another perfect day...until she goes to wake her seven-year-old son, Oscar. Because the worst thing imaginable has happened. He isn't there.
In the dark and desperate days that follow, Rachel struggles to navigate her grief. And while her husband, James, wants them to face the tragedy together, Rachel feels that the life they once shared is over. Convinced that their happy marriage is now a sham, and unable to remain in the place where she lost her son, she goes home to Bristol alone.
Only when she starts receiving letters from Cee-Cee, her housekeeper in Bermuda, does light begin to return to Rachel's soul. She and James both want to learn to live again-but is it too late for them to find a way through together?
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[Rachel always thought it felt like a gift to wake up smiling]***
(Lake Union Publishing, 25 September 2018, ebook, 330 pages, Prime Reading)
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This is an incredibly sad and moving book. I found it very hard to read sometimes, especially the earlier chapters after Oscar is lost. Prowse does an amazing job of writing about Rachel's grief, almost too amazing because I really felt her grief as well and it was overwhelming at times. One of the saddest things about the book is they never find out what happened to Oscar. They know he must be dead because there is no other explanation but the story of what happened to him is never known. I can't imagine that kind of pain. Rachel and James are amazing characters. Their pain and their inability to find a way out of the darkness together is heart-breaking. The chapters alternate between Rachel trying to heal in Bristol and letters from her beloved housekeeper Cee-Cee. I enjoyed this, both Rachel and Cee-Cee offering alternative views on similar pain. I totally loved this book.
