Summer Reading: The Things We Knew - Book Review

 The Things We Knew

by Catherine West

When I think of summer reading I often like to look for books set at the beach. I also love a good story that includes a bit of a mystery. The Things We Knew by Catherine West is the perfect end of summer read. The Carlisle family had a tragedy years ago with the death of their mother. As older children they moved away, all except for the youngest daughter Lynette. As the years go by the family home is worn and their father is experiencing health issues. Everything starts to get tough for Lynette so she makes the call to bring everyone back to Wyldwood, their family home.


This book brings us a great mystery with so many of the children keeping secrets from each other. Not spiteful but done out of love, they just don't want to burden one another. A close neighbor who was more like a sibling also comes into the mix. As adults they really need to come to terms with their father's health issue and mother's death as well as the paths that they've chosen in life. While Lynette is the main character her story isn't all that different than her siblings because they are all hiding from the past. They have to forgive themselves and each other to move on.

I loved this book it is exactly the sort of story I look for in the summer. I love the setting being a beach house and I love the mysterious surroundings around the past. It keeps you guessing even though that isn't really the main plot of the book. I also liked how the characters grew over the course of the story. They were ready to face life and the past.

About:

A tragedy from the past resurfaces in this tale of family secrets and reignited love.

After her mother's death twelve years ago, Lynette Carlisle watched her close-knit family unravel. One by one, her four older siblings left their Nantucket home and never returned. All seem to harbor animosity toward their father, silently blaming him for their mother's death. Nobody will talk about that dreadful day, and Lynette can't remember a bit of it.

But when next-door neighbor Nicholas Cooper returns to Nantucket, he brings the past with him. Once her brother's best friend and Lynette's first crush, Nick seems to hiding things from her. Lynette wonders what he knows about the day her mother died and hopes he might help her remember the things she can't.

But Nick has no intention of telling Lynette the truth. Besides the damage it might cause his own family, he doesn't want to risk harming the fragile friendship between him and the woman he once thought of as a kid sister.

As their father's failing health and financial concerns bring the Carlisle siblings home, secrets begin to surface---secrets that will either restore their shattered relationships or separate the siblings forever. But pulling up anchor on the past propels them into the perfect storm, powerful enough to make them question all they ever believed in.

Purchase a copy: http://bit.ly/29vkFGh

 

About the author:

Catherine West writes stories of hope and healing from her island home in Bermuda. When she's not at the computer working on her next story, you can find her taking her Border collie for long walks on the beach or tending to her roses and orchids. She and her husband have two grown children.






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