When Nell's father makes a deathbed declaration that hints at a long-held secret, it reignites feelings of isolation that have plagued her for years. Her suspicions about the family's past only deepen when her mother, Annie, who is losing her memories to dementia, starts making cryptic comments of her own.
Thirty-five years earlier, Annie's life was upended by a series of traumas-one shock after another that she buried deep in her heart. The decisions she made at the time were motivated by love, but she knew even then that nobody could ever understand-let alone forgive-what she did.
As the two women's stories unravel, a generation apart, Nell finally discovers the devastating truth about her mother's past, and her own.
In this beautifully observed and emotionally powerful story of identity, memory and the nature of family, Hannah Beckerman asks: To what lengths would you go to protect the ones you love?
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The baby in the cot beside her cries, shattering the silence.- THEN
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(Lake Union Publishing, 5 October 2021, e-book, 298 pages, borrowed from AmazonKindle via PrimeReading)
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I really enjoyed The Impossible Truths of Love. The book moves between an unknown NOW and THEN. I love books that use time shifts to blend past and present, they create a compelling narrative and encourage you to read on. The THEN chapters focus on Annie's tragic story, and I felt my heart go out to her despite the terrible thing she does. I could understand her reasons. The NOW chapters focus on Nell, grieving her father, losing her mother to Alzheimer's, and stumbling across a terrible family secret and unsure if she should keep it to herself or not. I cried reading this.
