A review by mdabernig
The Pieces We Keep by Kristina McMorris
4.0
I had forgotten when I found this on my kindle that the reason I had this book was because I had loved [b:Letters from Home|22123215|Letters from Home|Kristina McMorris|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1410153549s/22123215.jpg|14297764] so much and had bought this when it came out & had just never gotten around to reading it, for whatever reason.
I really enjoyed this book - it was a clever dual story narrative, which I'm obviously a sucker for, but beyond that, they were clever dual stories. The stories were anchored by two women - Vivian during WW2 and Audra, a young widow still adjusting to being a single mother to a child who is plagued by night terrors. Vivian and Audra were fascinating and dimensional characters - I felt a connection with them both for different reasons and I wanted so much for them both to find the happiness they deserved.
Audra's story was sad...a woman who had lost her husband a few years before and who was struggling in many ways, but especially with her son, Jack. She didn't know how to help him and felt her life over-whelm her with one setback after another while Jack's nightmares just kept getting worse and worse. I guessed a few times about how Jack's story was going to link the two stories and I was wrong, and happy to be wrong because it was just so much more affecting the way it worked out.
I worried that Vivian's story was going to be a bit formulaic, and obvious but thankfully I was completely wrong in that regard and I found her story with Gene and Isaac genuinely wonderful. I was so happy with how it was resolved...bittersweet, of course, but I was so happy with what went on in that storyline.
This is a lovely book, and reaffirms why Kristina McMorris is probably one of my fave authors. Now I just need to go look out her other books - hopefully I won't leave them sitting unread on my kindle for too long this time!
I really enjoyed this book - it was a clever dual story narrative, which I'm obviously a sucker for, but beyond that, they were clever dual stories. The stories were anchored by two women - Vivian during WW2 and Audra, a young widow still adjusting to being a single mother to a child who is plagued by night terrors. Vivian and Audra were fascinating and dimensional characters - I felt a connection with them both for different reasons and I wanted so much for them both to find the happiness they deserved.
Audra's story was sad...a woman who had lost her husband a few years before and who was struggling in many ways, but especially with her son, Jack. She didn't know how to help him and felt her life over-whelm her with one setback after another while Jack's nightmares just kept getting worse and worse. I guessed a few times about how Jack's story was going to link the two stories and I was wrong, and happy to be wrong because it was just so much more affecting the way it worked out.
I worried that Vivian's story was going to be a bit formulaic, and obvious but thankfully I was completely wrong in that regard and I found her story with Gene and Isaac genuinely wonderful. I was so happy with how it was resolved...bittersweet, of course, but I was so happy with what went on in that storyline.
This is a lovely book, and reaffirms why Kristina McMorris is probably one of my fave authors. Now I just need to go look out her other books - hopefully I won't leave them sitting unread on my kindle for too long this time!