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A Hand to Hold in Deep Water
Willy Cherrymill and his stepdaughter Lacey are deeply bruised by a past brimming with unanswered questions. It’s been thirty years since May DuBerry, Willy’s young wife and Lacey’s mother, abandoned them both leaving Willy to raise Lacey alone.
Lacey Cherrymill is smart, stubborn and focused. She’s also a single mother to a young daughter recently diagnosed with a devastating illness. The last thing she needs to think about right now is the betrayal that rocked her childhood. Reluctantly, she has returned to her rural beginnings, a former dairy farm in the Maryland countryside, and to Willy, a man steeped in his own disappointments and all the guilt that goes with them.
Together they will pool their wobbly emotional resources to take care of Tasha, all the while trying to skirt the issue of May’s mysterious disappearance. But try as she might, Lacey can’t leave it alone. Just where is May DuBerry Cherrymill and why did she leave them, and how is it that they have never talked about the wreckage she left behind?
Lacey Cherrymill is smart, stubborn and focused. She’s also a single mother to a young daughter recently diagnosed with a devastating illness. The last thing she needs to think about right now is the betrayal that rocked her childhood. Reluctantly, she has returned to her rural beginnings, a former dairy farm in the Maryland countryside, and to Willy, a man steeped in his own disappointments and all the guilt that goes with them.
Together they will pool their wobbly emotional resources to take care of Tasha, all the while trying to skirt the issue of May’s mysterious disappearance. But try as she might, Lacey can’t leave it alone. Just where is May DuBerry Cherrymill and why did she leave them, and how is it that they have never talked about the wreckage she left behind?
483 pages, Hardcover
First published June 22, 2021
28 people are currently reading
2767 people want to read
About the author
Shawn Nocher
3 books60 followersShawn Nocher is the author of the critically acclaimed novels A Hand to Hold in Deep Water and The Precious Jules. Her short stories and nonfiction articles have been published in SmokeLong Quarterly, Pithead Chapel, MoonPark Review, Writer’s Digest, and Electric Literature, among others. A two-time Pushcart Award nominee, she teaches in the Master of Arts writing program at Johns Hopkins University, has given wings to two children, and lives with her husband and an assortment of sassy rescue animals in Baltimore, Maryland, where she writes in a room of her own. You can find her online via: shawnnocher.com / Instagram: @shawnnocher / Twitter: @shawn_nocher
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews
August 17, 2022
A memorable 4.5 star read that stayed with me long after I turned the last page.
I am so very glad that I took a chance on this book: I still think back with a smile on that scene where Lacey and her daughter are surrounded by people who loved and supported them during their darkest times: a stark contrast to May's earlier years. An epic tale - touching on May, her daughter and granddaughter.
Every generation likes to believe that they are more enlightened and advanced than the one that preceded it. And yet, sexual and physical abuse are ever-present. We are a product of our times, our thinking and our community.
Silence and Secrets. These two historical culprits loom large in this heartrending story spanning three generations of the DuBarry women. Everything is shrouded in mystery. No one probes too deeply for fear of finding out a shameful truth that might require drastic intervention on their part.
May was abused by the one person she thought she could trust. She felt ashamed: she suspected that her isolated Ocracoke community would judge her equally guilty if they knew what had been done to her, despite the fact that she was only 13 at the time.
As the story progresses, the mysterious identity of who the father of her baby could be becomes horrifyingly clear to the reader, despite everyone else’s apparent ignorance. May’s ingenuous journal entries, employing her endearing Ocracoke (North Carolina) vernacular, slowly revealed the tragic horrors of her young life.
Unfortunately for May, even her Aunt Virgie failed her in the end. Aunt Virgie chose secrecy and “saving face” over justice for May, and eventually took May’s secret with her to her grave, leaving May totally defenseless.
The back and forth timeline caused me a fair amount of confusion. At one point, I thought that Aunt Virgie knew or at least suspected the truth from the start, but the timelines crisscross and waltz back and forth so often that I may be mistaken in this. Even if Aunt Virgie was still in the dark, I could not understand why May was sent back to live in Ocracoke with her father after recovering from giving birth to Lacey. Aunt Virgie was of the opinion that May should finish her education, but why send her back to the scene of the crime, so to speak? At the very least, May’s pregnancy was the result of statutory rape: she was only 12 or 13 years old at the time. Someone in Ocracoke had impregnated May and thereby had committed a crime. (This part of the story made little sense to me and even dismayed me. Why, too, didn’t May speak up or at least beg not to be returned to Ocracoke?)
Innuendo, hints, and vague wording are often the only clues the reader has to work with, but after a while you know exactly where all of this is going. This novel should come with trigger warnings because there are several detailed descriptions of sexual abuse and physical assault, as well as two episodes of heartbreaking and vicious animal cruelty.
A minor issue that I had with this story: May’s journal alerted me to the potential revelation or accidental discovery of the awful truth by at least one character in this tale. But what that character decided to do with that revelation at first disappointed me, then led me to delay writing my review until I had pondered each side of the issue.
I am still disheartened that Silence and Secrecy prevailed and May was not exonerated. But I also had to acknowledge that Lacey’s motives were centered around protecting Willie from more heartbreak. What good would it do to make him feel even more guilty than he already felt for not going after May and attempting to persuade her to return? He might have prevented her death by finally forcing May to speak her truth. This last motive I did understand - but I was still disappointed.
Apart from these disquieting wrinkles, this was a mesmerizing story. I was fully invested in May, Lacey and Tasha’s mental and physical tribulations. I admired their strengths while at the same time sympathizing with their inner turmoil, self-doubt and personal weaknesses.
I’m rating this one an engrossing 4.5 out of 5 stars. (Goodreads Admin: we need to be able to assign half stars in our rating system!) Note: There was one journal entry where May suddenly lost her Ocracoke dialect and envisioned and related her future actions in grammatically perfect and highly dramatic phrasing. This stretched my credulity a tad too much. (But then again, maybe my memory is faulty and this wasn't a journal entry? Maybe the omniscient narrator was telling this part of the story - but I vaguly recall that this part was told from May's point of view, in the first person. As I said, a tad confusing.)
That said, I highly recommend this riveting story: I deliberately lingered and spread out my reading time so that I could extend my stay with these fascinating characters who had become very real to me. (The male characters in this story were no less fascinating than the females. I adored Willy, but Cade got me all worked up - in a good way!) My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
(I would have loved to listen to the audiobook as well, but my library hasn't picked up the book yet, much less the audio version. Big sigh! I have Kindle Unlimited but not Audible - I don't listen to enough audiobooks to make BOTH subscriptions worthwhile. Amazon should combine the two and give us a better deal!)
I am so very glad that I took a chance on this book: I still think back with a smile on that scene where Lacey and her daughter are surrounded by people who loved and supported them during their darkest times: a stark contrast to May's earlier years. An epic tale - touching on May, her daughter and granddaughter.
Every generation likes to believe that they are more enlightened and advanced than the one that preceded it. And yet, sexual and physical abuse are ever-present. We are a product of our times, our thinking and our community.
Silence and Secrets. These two historical culprits loom large in this heartrending story spanning three generations of the DuBarry women. Everything is shrouded in mystery. No one probes too deeply for fear of finding out a shameful truth that might require drastic intervention on their part.
May was abused by the one person she thought she could trust. She felt ashamed: she suspected that her isolated Ocracoke community would judge her equally guilty if they knew what had been done to her, despite the fact that she was only 13 at the time.
As the story progresses, the mysterious identity of who the father of her baby could be becomes horrifyingly clear to the reader, despite everyone else’s apparent ignorance. May’s ingenuous journal entries, employing her endearing Ocracoke (North Carolina) vernacular, slowly revealed the tragic horrors of her young life.
Unfortunately for May, even her Aunt Virgie failed her in the end. Aunt Virgie chose secrecy and “saving face” over justice for May, and eventually took May’s secret with her to her grave, leaving May totally defenseless.
The back and forth timeline caused me a fair amount of confusion. At one point, I thought that Aunt Virgie knew or at least suspected the truth from the start, but the timelines crisscross and waltz back and forth so often that I may be mistaken in this. Even if Aunt Virgie was still in the dark, I could not understand why May was sent back to live in Ocracoke with her father after recovering from giving birth to Lacey. Aunt Virgie was of the opinion that May should finish her education, but why send her back to the scene of the crime, so to speak? At the very least, May’s pregnancy was the result of statutory rape: she was only 12 or 13 years old at the time. Someone in Ocracoke had impregnated May and thereby had committed a crime. (This part of the story made little sense to me and even dismayed me. Why, too, didn’t May speak up or at least beg not to be returned to Ocracoke?)
Innuendo, hints, and vague wording are often the only clues the reader has to work with, but after a while you know exactly where all of this is going. This novel should come with trigger warnings because there are several detailed descriptions of sexual abuse and physical assault, as well as two episodes of heartbreaking and vicious animal cruelty.
A minor issue that I had with this story: May’s journal alerted me to the potential revelation or accidental discovery of the awful truth by at least one character in this tale. But what that character decided to do with that revelation at first disappointed me, then led me to delay writing my review until I had pondered each side of the issue.
I am still disheartened that Silence and Secrecy prevailed and May was not exonerated. But I also had to acknowledge that Lacey’s motives were centered around protecting Willie from more heartbreak. What good would it do to make him feel even more guilty than he already felt for not going after May and attempting to persuade her to return? He might have prevented her death by finally forcing May to speak her truth. This last motive I did understand - but I was still disappointed.
Apart from these disquieting wrinkles, this was a mesmerizing story. I was fully invested in May, Lacey and Tasha’s mental and physical tribulations. I admired their strengths while at the same time sympathizing with their inner turmoil, self-doubt and personal weaknesses.
I’m rating this one an engrossing 4.5 out of 5 stars. (Goodreads Admin: we need to be able to assign half stars in our rating system!) Note: There was one journal entry where May suddenly lost her Ocracoke dialect and envisioned and related her future actions in grammatically perfect and highly dramatic phrasing. This stretched my credulity a tad too much. (But then again, maybe my memory is faulty and this wasn't a journal entry? Maybe the omniscient narrator was telling this part of the story - but I vaguly recall that this part was told from May's point of view, in the first person. As I said, a tad confusing.)
That said, I highly recommend this riveting story: I deliberately lingered and spread out my reading time so that I could extend my stay with these fascinating characters who had become very real to me. (The male characters in this story were no less fascinating than the females. I adored Willy, but Cade got me all worked up - in a good way!) My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
(I would have loved to listen to the audiobook as well, but my library hasn't picked up the book yet, much less the audio version. Big sigh! I have Kindle Unlimited but not Audible - I don't listen to enough audiobooks to make BOTH subscriptions worthwhile. Amazon should combine the two and give us a better deal!)
July 5, 2021
EXCERPT: 'Willy,' she had said, nudging her shoulder into his where they sat on the stoop together, her voice small and papery, like it might blow away. 'I don't think my momma likes it here no more.'
'Now, girl,' he said, patting her knee, 'what makes you say such things?' But his heart had already tightened in his chest because he'd been thinking the same thing, the very same thing. May wasn't happy, and it didn't seem right since he had thought for sure she would be. He had been so proud to bring her home on their wedding day, and after that first night with her, feeling so good, he couldn't imagine she would feel any different from him.
That was just the thing that confounded him - that he could feel one way and she could feel another. Of late, when he touched her, she just lay still, not saying 'no' to him, but like she'd taken out her heart and set it aside. And just last night, when he'd lifted his head from the sweet-salty crook of her neck, she lay wide-eyed and staring at the ceiling, and he couldn't go on.
It was a terrible thing, to feel connected to a woman and then find out you weren't really touching her at all. Something like that made a man start asking questions that he didn't want to know the answers to.
But even then, at that moment, with Lacey tucked against his shoulder and his hand patting her knee, he couldn't possibly have imagined that May would disappear the way she did, that she could just quit the life they had like it meant nothing, leaving him and little Lacey without even so much as a 'so long and see ya later'. Gone. Like a breath that has been inhaled and exhaled and done with.
ABOUT 'A HAND TO HOLD IN DEEP WATER': Willy Cherrymill and his stepdaughter Lacey are deeply bruised by a past brimming with unanswered questions. It’s been thirty years since May DuBerry, Willy’s young wife and Lacey’s mother, abandoned them both leaving Willy to raise Lacey alone.
Lacey Cherrymill is smart, stubborn and focused. She’s also a single mother to a young daughter recently diagnosed with a devastating illness. The last thing she needs to think about right now is the betrayal that rocked her childhood. Reluctantly, she has returned to her rural beginnings, a former dairy farm in the Maryland countryside, and to Willy, a man steeped in his own disappointments and all the guilt that goes with them.
Together they will pool their wobbly emotional resources to take care of Tasha, all the while trying to skirt the issue of May’s mysterious disappearance. But try as she might, Lacey can’t leave it alone. Just where is May DuBerry Cherrymill and why did she leave them, and how is it that they have never talked about the wreckage she left behind?
MY THOUGHTS: The writing in A Hand to Hold in Deep Water is beautiful, lyrical. It flows like molasses from a spoon. It is a novel that drew me in so that I was breathing the same air that the characters breathed, experiencing their triumphs, their pain, feeling their emotions, living their lives
along with them.
A Hand to Hold in Deep Water is an exploration of love - the love of a mother for her daughter, her need to protect her daughter at any cost, even that of her own happiness.
At first I thought this story belonged to Lacey and her daughter Tasha, as Tasha is diagnosed with cancer and their battle with this demon is the predominating thread, with the mystery of May surfacing only occasionally. But gradually the tables turn as Lacey faces up to her need to know just what happened to her mother, her need to know her mother and where she came from. And so she packs up Lacey and Willy and Carlotta, and they embark on a mission to find out just who May duBarry was.
The story is split between the 'present', being the mid-2000s, and the 'past' of the early 1970s. The story is interspersed with May's diary entries. I found the telling of Tasha's battle with cancer difficult to read. It is a brutally honest, no holds barred account. But it was worth getting through, because it is May's story that is the crux of the book.
This is very much a character driven novel. If you are looking for action and excitement, look elsewhere. If you are looking for a beautiful, tender and heart-piercing story of family, love, sacrifice, secrets and shame, then you couldn't do better than pick up A Hand to Hold in Deep Water by Shawn Nocher.
I both read and listened to A Hand to Hold in Deep Water. Elizabeth Evans is a wonderful narrator, and enriched my experience with this book.
⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
#AHandtoHoldinDeepWater #NetGalley
I: @shawnnocher @ blackstonepublishing
T: @shawn_nocher @BlackstonePub1
#contemporaryfiction #familydrama #historicalfiction #love #mystery #sliceoflife #audiobook
THE AUTHOR: Shawn Nochers compelling short stories have appeared in numerous literary magazines, including SmokeLong Quarterly, Pithead Chapel, Eunoia Review, and MoonPark Review, and she has been longlisted or won honorable mentions from both SmokeLong Quarterly and Glimmer Train.
She earned her master of arts in writing at Johns Hopkins University, has given wings to two children, and lives with her husband and an assortment of sassy rescue animals in Baltimore, Maryland, where she writes in a room of her own. This is her first novel. (Amazon)
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and Blackstone Audio via Netgalley for providing both a digital and an audio ARC of A Hand to Hold in Deep Water by Shawn Nocher for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com
This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
'Now, girl,' he said, patting her knee, 'what makes you say such things?' But his heart had already tightened in his chest because he'd been thinking the same thing, the very same thing. May wasn't happy, and it didn't seem right since he had thought for sure she would be. He had been so proud to bring her home on their wedding day, and after that first night with her, feeling so good, he couldn't imagine she would feel any different from him.
That was just the thing that confounded him - that he could feel one way and she could feel another. Of late, when he touched her, she just lay still, not saying 'no' to him, but like she'd taken out her heart and set it aside. And just last night, when he'd lifted his head from the sweet-salty crook of her neck, she lay wide-eyed and staring at the ceiling, and he couldn't go on.
It was a terrible thing, to feel connected to a woman and then find out you weren't really touching her at all. Something like that made a man start asking questions that he didn't want to know the answers to.
But even then, at that moment, with Lacey tucked against his shoulder and his hand patting her knee, he couldn't possibly have imagined that May would disappear the way she did, that she could just quit the life they had like it meant nothing, leaving him and little Lacey without even so much as a 'so long and see ya later'. Gone. Like a breath that has been inhaled and exhaled and done with.
ABOUT 'A HAND TO HOLD IN DEEP WATER': Willy Cherrymill and his stepdaughter Lacey are deeply bruised by a past brimming with unanswered questions. It’s been thirty years since May DuBerry, Willy’s young wife and Lacey’s mother, abandoned them both leaving Willy to raise Lacey alone.
Lacey Cherrymill is smart, stubborn and focused. She’s also a single mother to a young daughter recently diagnosed with a devastating illness. The last thing she needs to think about right now is the betrayal that rocked her childhood. Reluctantly, she has returned to her rural beginnings, a former dairy farm in the Maryland countryside, and to Willy, a man steeped in his own disappointments and all the guilt that goes with them.
Together they will pool their wobbly emotional resources to take care of Tasha, all the while trying to skirt the issue of May’s mysterious disappearance. But try as she might, Lacey can’t leave it alone. Just where is May DuBerry Cherrymill and why did she leave them, and how is it that they have never talked about the wreckage she left behind?
MY THOUGHTS: The writing in A Hand to Hold in Deep Water is beautiful, lyrical. It flows like molasses from a spoon. It is a novel that drew me in so that I was breathing the same air that the characters breathed, experiencing their triumphs, their pain, feeling their emotions, living their lives
along with them.
A Hand to Hold in Deep Water is an exploration of love - the love of a mother for her daughter, her need to protect her daughter at any cost, even that of her own happiness.
At first I thought this story belonged to Lacey and her daughter Tasha, as Tasha is diagnosed with cancer and their battle with this demon is the predominating thread, with the mystery of May surfacing only occasionally. But gradually the tables turn as Lacey faces up to her need to know just what happened to her mother, her need to know her mother and where she came from. And so she packs up Lacey and Willy and Carlotta, and they embark on a mission to find out just who May duBarry was.
The story is split between the 'present', being the mid-2000s, and the 'past' of the early 1970s. The story is interspersed with May's diary entries. I found the telling of Tasha's battle with cancer difficult to read. It is a brutally honest, no holds barred account. But it was worth getting through, because it is May's story that is the crux of the book.
This is very much a character driven novel. If you are looking for action and excitement, look elsewhere. If you are looking for a beautiful, tender and heart-piercing story of family, love, sacrifice, secrets and shame, then you couldn't do better than pick up A Hand to Hold in Deep Water by Shawn Nocher.
I both read and listened to A Hand to Hold in Deep Water. Elizabeth Evans is a wonderful narrator, and enriched my experience with this book.
⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
#AHandtoHoldinDeepWater #NetGalley
I: @shawnnocher @ blackstonepublishing
T: @shawn_nocher @BlackstonePub1
#contemporaryfiction #familydrama #historicalfiction #love #mystery #sliceoflife #audiobook
THE AUTHOR: Shawn Nochers compelling short stories have appeared in numerous literary magazines, including SmokeLong Quarterly, Pithead Chapel, Eunoia Review, and MoonPark Review, and she has been longlisted or won honorable mentions from both SmokeLong Quarterly and Glimmer Train.
She earned her master of arts in writing at Johns Hopkins University, has given wings to two children, and lives with her husband and an assortment of sassy rescue animals in Baltimore, Maryland, where she writes in a room of her own. This is her first novel. (Amazon)
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and Blackstone Audio via Netgalley for providing both a digital and an audio ARC of A Hand to Hold in Deep Water by Shawn Nocher for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com
This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
November 10, 2021
“There is a sickness rising in Lacey’s stomach that she has kept at bay by sheer force of will …” These are the thoughts of one of the main characters towards the end of the novel when she reads her mother’s diary. I felt this way a number of times as I read the novel because the reader has been privy to her mother’s diary in the alternating narrative well before Lacey.
I found this difficult to read at times, disturbing in fact, and I’m not sure if I would have read it had I known some things, but it was too late; I was already invested in the characters and wanted to know what happens to them. The gut wrenching details of the past story is tempered by love and the realization of what family means in the present day story. Well written and captivating, in spite of the darkness of the past.
I received a copy of this book from Blackstone Publishing through NetGalley.
I found this difficult to read at times, disturbing in fact, and I’m not sure if I would have read it had I known some things, but it was too late; I was already invested in the characters and wanted to know what happens to them. The gut wrenching details of the past story is tempered by love and the realization of what family means in the present day story. Well written and captivating, in spite of the darkness of the past.
I received a copy of this book from Blackstone Publishing through NetGalley.
March 10, 2021
Review also published on blog: https://books-are-a-girls-best-friend...
The day Willy Cherrymill fell for May DuBerry, his life changed in a myriad of ways. A chicken farmer, he fell and fell hard, for May and for her daughter Lacey. His life seemed picture-perfect until the day May abandons them both.
Now twenty-seven, Lacey Cherrymill has always felt like she was missing something. That something is her mother. A Professor at a nearby college, Lacey’s life revolves around teaching and her precocious, five-year-old daughter Tasha. Though it has been a while since Lacey saw her stepfather, a trip to the farm is just what they both need.
For Willy, Lacey, and Tasha, family is what you make of it and the bonds these three share are heartfelt, and true. When near-tragedy strikes, these three will find that together they can face anything.
A sweet, heart-wrenching, and evocative character-driven story, I adored the characters of Willy, Tasha, and Carlotta in “A Hand to Hold in Deep Water” by Shawn Nocher. The relationship between all of the characters in this story is what drew me in.
Told in the present day and through past diary entries of May Duberry’s, I found the writing and the story to be quite compelling. Though there were times where I would have liked to be shown more of the story through the lives of the characters, versus told what had happened, I think that the way this story was presented lent itself to the way it was ultimately told.
All in all, I found “A Hand to Hold in Deep Water” to be wholly compelling. The book’s message struck a chord with me and I have a feeling that it will resonate with everyone else who reads it.
Thank you to Blackstone Publishing, NetGalley, and Shawn Nocher for the arc.
Published on Goodreads, Twitter, and Instagram.
The day Willy Cherrymill fell for May DuBerry, his life changed in a myriad of ways. A chicken farmer, he fell and fell hard, for May and for her daughter Lacey. His life seemed picture-perfect until the day May abandons them both.
Now twenty-seven, Lacey Cherrymill has always felt like she was missing something. That something is her mother. A Professor at a nearby college, Lacey’s life revolves around teaching and her precocious, five-year-old daughter Tasha. Though it has been a while since Lacey saw her stepfather, a trip to the farm is just what they both need.
For Willy, Lacey, and Tasha, family is what you make of it and the bonds these three share are heartfelt, and true. When near-tragedy strikes, these three will find that together they can face anything.
A sweet, heart-wrenching, and evocative character-driven story, I adored the characters of Willy, Tasha, and Carlotta in “A Hand to Hold in Deep Water” by Shawn Nocher. The relationship between all of the characters in this story is what drew me in.
Told in the present day and through past diary entries of May Duberry’s, I found the writing and the story to be quite compelling. Though there were times where I would have liked to be shown more of the story through the lives of the characters, versus told what had happened, I think that the way this story was presented lent itself to the way it was ultimately told.
All in all, I found “A Hand to Hold in Deep Water” to be wholly compelling. The book’s message struck a chord with me and I have a feeling that it will resonate with everyone else who reads it.
Thank you to Blackstone Publishing, NetGalley, and Shawn Nocher for the arc.
Published on Goodreads, Twitter, and Instagram.
July 10, 2021
June 2004
‘She and I are lying on the dock, peering through the planks at an especially large jellyfish, the breadth of a dinner plate thick and milky, drifting beneath us in the brackish water. They’re common in the river this time of year, something to do with the salinity, but these larger ones with their ruffled pink insides are more unusual, and we watch in rare silence.’
Lying peacefully alongside the St. Mary’s River, Lacey and her friend Tasha, this is how this story begins. For a moment in time all seems like a perfectly idyllic scene of those summer childhood days spent languidly exploring the mysteries of the world.
Still, there are bigger mysteries in life, some growing more mysterious as the years pass. Why did May, Lacey’s mother, suddenly disappear, and where is she? Why would she abandon her, leaving her with her stepfather Willy?
As many years have passed, and the ‘why’ of her mother’s disappearance continues to haunt her, she feels an increasing need to come to terms with her mother’s leaving her. She now has a five-year-old daughter, Tasha, and she can’t imagine leaving her behind. She goes in search of the past as a way to make sense of the present, and answers about the past.
This story unfolds at a languid pace, much like childhood summer days spent chasing those moments that cannot live forever, but are forever a part of us. We learn of the past through May’s diary, while also following the story as it unfolds in the present day, until eventually, the past has been revealed.
This was a tenderly handled, heart-rending story with wonderful characters whose stories I was drawn to, hoping their search would bring them peace.
Published: 22 Jun 2021
Many thanks for the ARC provided by Blackstone Publishing
#AHandtoHoldinDeepWater #NetGalley
November 30, 2021
I have to start checking for trigger warnings! Even though, generally speaking, there’s nothing I am adamant about avoiding, some things caught me off guard. This was an excruciatingly difficult read for more than one reason. I was not prepared for it.
Honestly, when I read the blurb of this book, I kind of assumed it's going to turn into a mystery/thriller kind of thing. If I knew it's gonna be this dark, I probably wouldn't even attempt reading it. I had to skim through some parts, and even then it was hard for me to finish the book.
The good news is that it was pretty well written. The writhing - I wouldn't say it was lyrical, but there was something poetic about it. Perfect to tell this particular story.
If this kind of books are your thing, then you'll probably like it quite a bit. It grabbed even me after a while; though I was considering DNFing it because of the difficult topics, I just had to know how it ends.
BTW, is this a debut novel? I couldn't find any other books by this author, but there was something very… experienced about the narration. And also the characters - they were so complex, but so easy to understand and they just felt real.
Anyways, even though it was hard to go through it, I’m glad I read this book. I'm sure it will stay with me for a really long time.
Thank you to the #NetGalley and to the author and publisher for providing me with an audiobook version of A Hand to Hold in Deep Water by Shawn Nocher in exchange for an honest review.
Honestly, when I read the blurb of this book, I kind of assumed it's going to turn into a mystery/thriller kind of thing. If I knew it's gonna be this dark, I probably wouldn't even attempt reading it. I had to skim through some parts, and even then it was hard for me to finish the book.
The good news is that it was pretty well written. The writhing - I wouldn't say it was lyrical, but there was something poetic about it. Perfect to tell this particular story.
If this kind of books are your thing, then you'll probably like it quite a bit. It grabbed even me after a while; though I was considering DNFing it because of the difficult topics, I just had to know how it ends.
BTW, is this a debut novel? I couldn't find any other books by this author, but there was something very… experienced about the narration. And also the characters - they were so complex, but so easy to understand and they just felt real.
Anyways, even though it was hard to go through it, I’m glad I read this book. I'm sure it will stay with me for a really long time.
Thank you to the #NetGalley and to the author and publisher for providing me with an audiobook version of A Hand to Hold in Deep Water by Shawn Nocher in exchange for an honest review.
May 23, 2021
Willy Cherrymill and his stepdaughter Lacey have been forced together ever since her mother abandoned the two of them, a year after marrying Willy. Willy was a dairy farmer in Maryland, until a TB outbreak killed his herd off and he began raising chickens instead. Now thirty years later, Willy is still tending to the chickens and Lacey is a single mother to five year old Tasha, the same age she was when her mother May left. Lacey and Tasha move in with Willy to save money on housing, while Tasha gets treatment at nearby John Hopkins for cancer. Together, this family will have to confront a deadly disease and the mysteries surrounding their past. I have the unique experience of having lived with my brother as he struggled with and eventually passed away from cancer. I have spent a lifetime questioning why and questioning if I ever want to have children, if there’s a possibility they could also get cancer. Cancer is evil but when it strikes at someone who has not even had a chance to live yet, it is heartbreaking. This book took my breath away and instead of seeing Tasha, I saw my brother. I had to frequently put the book down and remember to breathe, which is a testament to how powerful this writing was. The novel goes much deeper than just one family’s struggle with cancer: the author creates a striking contrast between the present time and the past, with entries from May’s diaries, that explain in real time, how Lacey came to be and everything she struggled with. While it was slow in the beginning, I was completely drawn into the novel when I began understanding what May was writing about. This will go down as a top 2021 book for me.
October 25, 2022
An intensely painful and emotional multi-generational drama told through beautifully spun stories of well-developed characters that are bound to break your heart.
This book was a great read, technically not a read because I listened to the audiobook, but irrespective of the format, it was captivating from start to finish! Lacey, a single mother, returns to her stepfather, Willy’s house, with her young daughter, Tasha, who is suffering from cancer. Lacey and Willy are both haunted by their common past. May, Lacey’s mother and Willy’s wife, abandoned both of them nearly thirty years ago without a letter or message. They both have been long tormented by the why and how of May’s disappearance. As Lacey detangles the twisted knots of her past, she comes face-to-face with her mother’s traumatic childhood.
Since I do not want to give away the plot, I’ve only stated the primary theme here, however, please note that this story does not just belong to May and Lacey, but as much to Willy and Tasha, and all the other side characters who play equally crucial roles in this rich domestic fiction. I was surprised to know that this was Shawn Nocher’s debut novel because it had all the elements of a seasoned writer. The writing was immersive, and the characters were well-drawn with depth and complexity.
Now onto the most important part - the TRIGGER WARNINGS. This book is based on multiple disturbing themes: childhood trauma, sexual abuse, cancer, child abandonment, alcoholism, death and absence of a spouse, divorce, and loneliness. Please check the trigger warnings in advance before you decide to pick this one up.
As for the audiobook, the narrator, Elizabeth Evans, handled the various voices and dialects efficiently, making for a brilliant experience.
Thanks to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.
A Hand to Hold in Deep Water is available for purchase.
4.5/5🌟 (rounding down).
This book was a great read, technically not a read because I listened to the audiobook, but irrespective of the format, it was captivating from start to finish! Lacey, a single mother, returns to her stepfather, Willy’s house, with her young daughter, Tasha, who is suffering from cancer. Lacey and Willy are both haunted by their common past. May, Lacey’s mother and Willy’s wife, abandoned both of them nearly thirty years ago without a letter or message. They both have been long tormented by the why and how of May’s disappearance. As Lacey detangles the twisted knots of her past, she comes face-to-face with her mother’s traumatic childhood.
Since I do not want to give away the plot, I’ve only stated the primary theme here, however, please note that this story does not just belong to May and Lacey, but as much to Willy and Tasha, and all the other side characters who play equally crucial roles in this rich domestic fiction. I was surprised to know that this was Shawn Nocher’s debut novel because it had all the elements of a seasoned writer. The writing was immersive, and the characters were well-drawn with depth and complexity.
Now onto the most important part - the TRIGGER WARNINGS. This book is based on multiple disturbing themes: childhood trauma, sexual abuse, cancer, child abandonment, alcoholism, death and absence of a spouse, divorce, and loneliness. Please check the trigger warnings in advance before you decide to pick this one up.
As for the audiobook, the narrator, Elizabeth Evans, handled the various voices and dialects efficiently, making for a brilliant experience.
Thanks to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.
A Hand to Hold in Deep Water is available for purchase.
4.5/5🌟 (rounding down).
January 20, 2021
This is a touching, captivating, and heartfelt novel. The characters are deep, touching so many emotions and drawing you into a realistic story of love, pain, joy, and sadness.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
July 27, 2021
Favorite Quotes:
Something was expected of her, something that might change the course of what was transpiring, but whatever it was felt just out of reach, like a word one might search for and though it shimmies around the tongue, it can’t be called up.
His voice is a painful thing in my ear that has settled in the corners of my mind like broke glass. I cannot bear the feel of his words.
She reaches across the table and takes his hand in hers. It’s so big, has always been so big around hers. She squeezes and he lifts his other hand from his lap, places it over hers. She knows now that she had been miraculously caught in the depths of a fall, cushioned by this man with the deepest of hearts.
My Review:
This was an intensively emotive read that was so perceptively written it was startling. I tumbled right into this itchy, prickly, and heart-squeezing tale and I grew to love these oddly compelling and uniquely crafted personalities. The characters weren’t people I would ordinarily seek out to spend time with yet they become so very knowable to me and I found their story addictive and gripping.
The storylines were cunningly crafted and maddeningly paced with intriguing, painful, and cringe-worthy elements that will stay with me for quite some time. Yet even those uncomfortable events were painted in an uncommonly personable and deeply observant manner and were so very thoughtfully presented that I found an odd wetness seeping from my eyes and hot rocks in my throat as I gasped to catch my breath. I am astounded by the quality and depth achieved by a first-time novelist. Shawn Nocher is definitely one to watch and was quickly added to my list of new favorites.
Something was expected of her, something that might change the course of what was transpiring, but whatever it was felt just out of reach, like a word one might search for and though it shimmies around the tongue, it can’t be called up.
His voice is a painful thing in my ear that has settled in the corners of my mind like broke glass. I cannot bear the feel of his words.
She reaches across the table and takes his hand in hers. It’s so big, has always been so big around hers. She squeezes and he lifts his other hand from his lap, places it over hers. She knows now that she had been miraculously caught in the depths of a fall, cushioned by this man with the deepest of hearts.
My Review:
This was an intensively emotive read that was so perceptively written it was startling. I tumbled right into this itchy, prickly, and heart-squeezing tale and I grew to love these oddly compelling and uniquely crafted personalities. The characters weren’t people I would ordinarily seek out to spend time with yet they become so very knowable to me and I found their story addictive and gripping.
The storylines were cunningly crafted and maddeningly paced with intriguing, painful, and cringe-worthy elements that will stay with me for quite some time. Yet even those uncomfortable events were painted in an uncommonly personable and deeply observant manner and were so very thoughtfully presented that I found an odd wetness seeping from my eyes and hot rocks in my throat as I gasped to catch my breath. I am astounded by the quality and depth achieved by a first-time novelist. Shawn Nocher is definitely one to watch and was quickly added to my list of new favorites.
March 18, 2022
I was fortunate to be able to read an advanced copy ....and so glad that I did!
From the first page the poetic writing brings you into the story as though you are lying on the docks peering into the water alongside Lacey and Tasha, and that feeling continues with every chapter until the final words. It is both beautiful and heartbreaking. The characters feel like your friends, neighbors and family and you find yourself wishing and wanting for them with every single word. I just didn’t want it to end! It is a book that stays with you ... I wanted to know where these characters went tomorrow and the next day and the day after that!
From the first page the poetic writing brings you into the story as though you are lying on the docks peering into the water alongside Lacey and Tasha, and that feeling continues with every chapter until the final words. It is both beautiful and heartbreaking. The characters feel like your friends, neighbors and family and you find yourself wishing and wanting for them with every single word. I just didn’t want it to end! It is a book that stays with you ... I wanted to know where these characters went tomorrow and the next day and the day after that!
June 20, 2021
A Hand to Hold in Deep Water by Shawn Nocher, published by Blackstone Publishing, is a story that will stay with me.
It's an emotional read, intense, deals with sensitive subjects - consider you warned. The full length stand-alone had me in suspense from start till the last page. I easily connected with characters and storyline. My heart was hurting for them.
Lacey and Tasha, Willy and May, Sugar and all the others have an intriguing story to tell.
This new to me author nailed it form the start. I loved the excellent writing, the outstanding storyline, how everything comes together. The well deserved hea.
I recommend the book, 5 stars.
It's an emotional read, intense, deals with sensitive subjects - consider you warned. The full length stand-alone had me in suspense from start till the last page. I easily connected with characters and storyline. My heart was hurting for them.
Lacey and Tasha, Willy and May, Sugar and all the others have an intriguing story to tell.
This new to me author nailed it form the start. I loved the excellent writing, the outstanding storyline, how everything comes together. The well deserved hea.
I recommend the book, 5 stars.
June 14, 2021
I don’t think words can express how much I loved A Hand to Hold in Deep Water.
Shawn Nocher has a gift with words. This is the kind of writing that makes you forget you’re reading, which is the hardest writing of all to achieve. I lived this story every step of the way.
The characters are real, complex people. I felt their struggle, and I so badly wanted to erase their pain.
The story is an emotional landmine. It stole my breath, made me ache, and gave me hope.
There’s so much within the content that I’d love to talk about, but I won’t because everything about this story should be discovered as you read it yourself.
Here’s an astonishing fact: This is Shawn Nocher’s DEBUT novel! Put her on your Authors to Watch list.
Oh, also, I want this to be a movie. Are you paying attention, Netflix?
Now I’m placing this book in a sacred spot among the rare fiction I’ve read and will never allow out of my sight.
*I received an ARC from Blackstone Publishing.*
Shawn Nocher has a gift with words. This is the kind of writing that makes you forget you’re reading, which is the hardest writing of all to achieve. I lived this story every step of the way.
The characters are real, complex people. I felt their struggle, and I so badly wanted to erase their pain.
The story is an emotional landmine. It stole my breath, made me ache, and gave me hope.
There’s so much within the content that I’d love to talk about, but I won’t because everything about this story should be discovered as you read it yourself.
Here’s an astonishing fact: This is Shawn Nocher’s DEBUT novel! Put her on your Authors to Watch list.
Oh, also, I want this to be a movie. Are you paying attention, Netflix?
Now I’m placing this book in a sacred spot among the rare fiction I’ve read and will never allow out of my sight.
*I received an ARC from Blackstone Publishing.*
June 16, 2021
A Hand to Hold in Deep Water by newcomer Shawn Nocher was the book that finally broke a months-long reading slump. It accompanied me on a recent trip, and–fortunately or unfortunately–I found it so engrossing I was hard-pressed to put it aside to accomplish the work I’d also brought along.
At 483 pages, it is a hefty tome, but every page is filled with some of the most beautiful writing I have lately encountered, words strung together in a way that constantly surprised and delighted me. (The kind that tempts me to indulge in some major writer-envy.)
Of course, no book is going to hold anyone’s attention for its writing alone, and here too A Hand to Hold in Deep Water shines. Though far more character-driven than plot-driven, its vibrant, richly drawn characters are completely engaging. The story is told from the point of view of three characters–equally strong, equally compelling. May DuBerry’s voice, presented as her journal writings, is particularly vivid.
Not to say that the plot is a snooze. I was particularly impressed with the clever way the author unraveled the rest of the mystery and enabled the satisfying ending.
Much as I savored it, though, I must warn that A Hand to Hold in Deep Water is probably not for everyone. Conservative readers, beware–this is a mainstream novel featuring characters making mainstream choices. It deals with heavy subjects, including a desperately ill child. And at its heart, a shattered family reckoning with the consequences of chilling dysfunction. Triggers abound.
But this is the kind of book I’m most drawn to. Why? Because though it is dark, it not without hope. It paints a portrait of what it means to see and celebrate beauty in the midst of deep, even irreconcilable, brokenness.
At 483 pages, it is a hefty tome, but every page is filled with some of the most beautiful writing I have lately encountered, words strung together in a way that constantly surprised and delighted me. (The kind that tempts me to indulge in some major writer-envy.)
Of course, no book is going to hold anyone’s attention for its writing alone, and here too A Hand to Hold in Deep Water shines. Though far more character-driven than plot-driven, its vibrant, richly drawn characters are completely engaging. The story is told from the point of view of three characters–equally strong, equally compelling. May DuBerry’s voice, presented as her journal writings, is particularly vivid.
Not to say that the plot is a snooze. I was particularly impressed with the clever way the author unraveled the rest of the mystery and enabled the satisfying ending.
Much as I savored it, though, I must warn that A Hand to Hold in Deep Water is probably not for everyone. Conservative readers, beware–this is a mainstream novel featuring characters making mainstream choices. It deals with heavy subjects, including a desperately ill child. And at its heart, a shattered family reckoning with the consequences of chilling dysfunction. Triggers abound.
But this is the kind of book I’m most drawn to. Why? Because though it is dark, it not without hope. It paints a portrait of what it means to see and celebrate beauty in the midst of deep, even irreconcilable, brokenness.
June 22, 2021
What an ride this book was!
Not everyone will be comfortable reading it. The subject matter is hard to take. Stories of any form of abuse always hit me hard, having been through it in my life.
This story I am middle of the ground with it. I thought it was well thought out, the characters had you in the palm of their hands. You needed to know those secrets. Unfortunately, that wasn't as put together as I had hoped. I still have many questions. I don't like that.
For a debut novel, it is good! I know some of you will love it! So be sure to give it a go!
Not everyone will be comfortable reading it. The subject matter is hard to take. Stories of any form of abuse always hit me hard, having been through it in my life.
This story I am middle of the ground with it. I thought it was well thought out, the characters had you in the palm of their hands. You needed to know those secrets. Unfortunately, that wasn't as put together as I had hoped. I still have many questions. I don't like that.
For a debut novel, it is good! I know some of you will love it! So be sure to give it a go!
June 2, 2021
This was a very good, but at times hard read. This novel touches on family, abuse, cancer and how often the monster is in our own houses. Lacey has always struggled with her upbringing. She was raised by her step-father who stepped right up to the role, with no questions asked and truly treated her as his own daughter but she always wondered what happened to her mother. Why did she leave them? What did she do, for this to happen? And now a mother herself she is struggling with some very hard decisions as well, for the best interest of her child.
Having been thrown into every parents worse nightmare, Lacey seeks out her childhood home and step-father for guidance and that sturdy pillar he always has been for her. As they are working through this all, she is starting to question more and more of why her mother left and is determined to find out the truth. She feels a piece of her has always been missing, and it is time to find that puzzle piece. Then maybe Lacey will finally feel complete and really understand things in life, and in herself.
I loved how this novel was written, in that you followed Lacey through her journey and you also then followed the diary of her mother, and her mother’s brought life. How she was raised, the things she endured, and ultimately why she left – along with all of the family secrets that only a few townsfolk had speculated about years ago.
Thank you to Blackstone Publishing for the free copy of this novel, it was a great read! I will for sure read more by this author.
Having been thrown into every parents worse nightmare, Lacey seeks out her childhood home and step-father for guidance and that sturdy pillar he always has been for her. As they are working through this all, she is starting to question more and more of why her mother left and is determined to find out the truth. She feels a piece of her has always been missing, and it is time to find that puzzle piece. Then maybe Lacey will finally feel complete and really understand things in life, and in herself.
I loved how this novel was written, in that you followed Lacey through her journey and you also then followed the diary of her mother, and her mother’s brought life. How she was raised, the things she endured, and ultimately why she left – along with all of the family secrets that only a few townsfolk had speculated about years ago.
Thank you to Blackstone Publishing for the free copy of this novel, it was a great read! I will for sure read more by this author.
September 29, 2022
That ending and the chills it gave me!!!
Full review to come!
Full review to come!
February 18, 2021
I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Lacey returns to her step-father's home with her young daughter during a health crisis. While there, she confronts him about the mother she barely remembered.
The truth of what she finds is unspeakably horrible, yet it brings a peace to Lacey knowing that her mother, May, did what she felt she had to do to protect Lacey.
Lacey returns to her step-father's home with her young daughter during a health crisis. While there, she confronts him about the mother she barely remembered.
The truth of what she finds is unspeakably horrible, yet it brings a peace to Lacey knowing that her mother, May, did what she felt she had to do to protect Lacey.
June 18, 2021
this was a very special story to me since it was the first ever audiobook i was permissioned on NetGalley.
nethertheless i would have liked it anyway! from the beginning i got totally immersed into this deep and very emotional story about a family and their moved past. i enjoyed the set up of the family- not a usual one.
the characters are all so well developed and to me they seemed so realistic.
thanks to the narrator Elizabeth Evans and the gripping story i thoroughly enjoyed this book.
i should mention, that i am not a native speaker and therefore enjoy listening to narrators with different accents whether they are british or american ;)
Thanks #NetGalley, #Shawn Nocher
nethertheless i would have liked it anyway! from the beginning i got totally immersed into this deep and very emotional story about a family and their moved past. i enjoyed the set up of the family- not a usual one.
the characters are all so well developed and to me they seemed so realistic.
thanks to the narrator Elizabeth Evans and the gripping story i thoroughly enjoyed this book.
i should mention, that i am not a native speaker and therefore enjoy listening to narrators with different accents whether they are british or american ;)
Thanks #NetGalley, #Shawn Nocher
November 7, 2023
WoW! What a story. Draws you in with the first paragraph. Moves at a great pace and gives you all the feels!
March 10, 2022
This is a beautifully written book that kept me engaged. Shawn Nocher brings such realism, subtlty and pathos to deep family traumas. I thought the character, Willy, was especially well written. Anne Tyler is one of my favorite writers and alot in this book reminded me of the feeling I have reading a good Anne Tyler book. I look forward to her next book coming out.
October 22, 2023
The vivid descriptions were tantamount to the excellent storytelling of the narrator.
July 18, 2021
Will and Lacey have had 30 years to wonder where Lacey's mother went when Lacey was 5. Her story. told in her journal, was a very real character in the story. I appreciate being allowed to read an early copy of this book. I want to tell total strangers on the street they should read this.
January 8, 2022
My first read of the year was a fantastic one. This book is relatively unknown and I can't figure out why. The writing is gorgeous, the characters are deep, and the story is compelling. Lacey was born to a young unwed mother, May, who later married her stepfather, Willy. One day May disappears and never returns. Years later, Lacey is raising her own daughter and wondering what happened to May. Willy is also grappling with the past alongside his deep love for Lacey. It's long, but the world around me disappeared while I read this
June 23, 2021
Told in the year 2005, we find three lovable but damaged characters living together on a chicken farm on an island located in the outskirts of Baltimore, Maryland. Willy Cherrymill, a curmudgeonly septuagenarian, married May DuBerry, Lacey's mother, while Lacey was a toddler and May was only eighteen. Willy was thirty-nine and perhaps, a needed father figure. Then all hell breaks loose as May abandons both Willy and Lacey while she is a little girl.
Through the past diary entries of May DuBerry, we learn why she leaves Willy and Lacey, in order to take care of her father. Meanwhile, Willy raises Lacey as if she were his own daughter and does the same now for Tasha, Lacey's five-year old daughter.
This is a charming and beautiful portrait of a generous-hearted stepfather, the stepdaughter he loves more than life itself, and Tasha, a delightful little girl who has to deal with a situation no child should have to. At one point Lacey is unable to comfort her daughter: "She tries to tell her it will be okay, she is doing a great job, she is so brave, but the words can't move past what feels like a rag lodged in her throat. Unable to move sound or breath or saliva around it, she can only drape herself over Tasha."
The dialogue is poignant and authentic, recreating a five-year old girl's world with heartrending and vivid details, the emotions coming through a child's eyes. No small feat to accomplish! The mother-daughter scenes are intense.
If you are interested in family secrets, damages beyond the flawed characters' control, and recovering from family-inflicted pain, A Hand to Hold in Deep Water is a must-read. This is a cautionary tale of a family created, sustained, and broken by events from the past.
Through the past diary entries of May DuBerry, we learn why she leaves Willy and Lacey, in order to take care of her father. Meanwhile, Willy raises Lacey as if she were his own daughter and does the same now for Tasha, Lacey's five-year old daughter.
This is a charming and beautiful portrait of a generous-hearted stepfather, the stepdaughter he loves more than life itself, and Tasha, a delightful little girl who has to deal with a situation no child should have to. At one point Lacey is unable to comfort her daughter: "She tries to tell her it will be okay, she is doing a great job, she is so brave, but the words can't move past what feels like a rag lodged in her throat. Unable to move sound or breath or saliva around it, she can only drape herself over Tasha."
The dialogue is poignant and authentic, recreating a five-year old girl's world with heartrending and vivid details, the emotions coming through a child's eyes. No small feat to accomplish! The mother-daughter scenes are intense.
If you are interested in family secrets, damages beyond the flawed characters' control, and recovering from family-inflicted pain, A Hand to Hold in Deep Water is a must-read. This is a cautionary tale of a family created, sustained, and broken by events from the past.
May 11, 2022
I read for rich, complex characters and the writing. With A Hand to Hold in Deep Water, Shawn Nocher delivers on both of my 'great book' wants. I wouldn't say this story is dark so much as it is real and messy, just like life, and the characters, complex and flawed, are like the people I love. Shawn puts life on the page, but richer, and more compelling, and she doesn't flinch when she rubs up against Lacey's truths, and those of her mother May. Lacey is a fierce and tender mother, and as she fights for her daughter's life, she uncovers the mystery of her mother May, who abandoned Lacey and her father years ago. And the writing... fluid and lyrical, with unique turns of phrases and metaphors that paint authentic Maryland landscapes. This is Shawn's debut novel--her second (The Precious Jules) comes out this summer. I'll be at the front of the line for her reading at THE IVY in Baltimore.
June 19, 2021
This is not the feel-good story of chosen family that it is being marketed as.
Willy is rapey (see, May’s description of sex as laying back and pretending her heart has left her body) and predatory (starts pursuing May when he is 38 and she is 17; ogles his stepdaughter when she breastfeeds Tasha), and I don’t care to read more about him. The story shows little awareness of this problem thus far, even setting him up as a savior to May and Lacey, in comparison to May’s father?? It is absolutely no mystery to me why May left; the real mystery is when Lacey will figure out he’s sort of gross. The prose is mediocre, too, especially following on the heels of the previous two books I read. Can’t find a reason to keep reading this. DNF at 23%.
I am grateful to both the publisher and NetGalley for providing an Audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Willy is rapey (see, May’s description of sex as laying back and pretending her heart has left her body) and predatory (starts pursuing May when he is 38 and she is 17; ogles his stepdaughter when she breastfeeds Tasha), and I don’t care to read more about him. The story shows little awareness of this problem thus far, even setting him up as a savior to May and Lacey, in comparison to May’s father?? It is absolutely no mystery to me why May left; the real mystery is when Lacey will figure out he’s sort of gross. The prose is mediocre, too, especially following on the heels of the previous two books I read. Can’t find a reason to keep reading this. DNF at 23%.
I am grateful to both the publisher and NetGalley for providing an Audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.
June 24, 2021
When the unthinkable happens and Lacey needs to seek medical attention for her five year old daughter, Tasha, she heads home to the farm she grew up on and her step father, Willy. Going home brings her closer to the care needed at John Hopkins for Tasha, but it also brings up many unanswered questions. Why did her own mother leave them when she was young? Weren’t they good enough? Did she do something to drive her away? Told in the present and throughout diary entries of the past, we slowly learn the cold hard truth of why May left. At times this book was a difficult read with the tough subject matter it contains, but filled with some lovable characters, I found it compelling. As the past meets the present and the book draws to a close, I felt that the past overshadowed the present and I ended up wanting more! Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.
August 11, 2021
I don’t want to let go of this book. This place, these characters warm you with the tenderness of home all the while acknowledging the complexities that come with a patchwork family. Nocher weaves unimaginable heartbreak through three points of view so naturally I could’ve believed I was reading a memoir. Looking forward to what’s next from a talented, debut writer whose sharp sense of life ignites every single page.
April 5, 2022
I have not cried this much since I read Where the Crawdads Sing!
This is a touching novel about a mother's love, even if it can't be understood. The things Lacey's mother May did to protect her are just heartbreaking!
I recommend this read!
I received this ARC read from A Novel Bee and author Shawn No her for my honest review.
This is a touching novel about a mother's love, even if it can't be understood. The things Lacey's mother May did to protect her are just heartbreaking!
I recommend this read!
I received this ARC read from A Novel Bee and author Shawn No her for my honest review.
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