Tuesday, May 4, 2021

A Million Reasons Why by Jessica Strawser

 March 23, 2021 

NetGalley

St. Martin’s Press 

Women’s fiction, arc, digital

368 pages

ISBN: 9781250241627

4/14/21- 4/25/2021

 

I received the digital copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. My review is voluntary and unbiased.

 

Caroline is a busy mother of 3, an event director who finds her life turned upside down the day she receives an email from her “half sister”. She initially disregards this claim as a mistake since her father, a market research analyst, has always served as a role model. Caroline and Walt are married with 3 young children: Riley, Lucy and Owen. 

 

Like a lot of curious families they decided to send in DNA ancestry kits. No one expected it to uncover many lies from the past. Ironically, it’s Caroline’s own father who states, “data, while itself trustworthy, could always be skewed-and often was.” 

 

Meanwhile, Sela lives in N. Carolina grieving the loss of her mother Rebecca (Ecca). Her mother raised her as a single mother while working as an artist in Brevard. She has always kept the paternity of Sela’s father a secret. Unfortunately, Sela’s health is slowly failing as she also separates from Doug her husband who she feels doesn’t understand her grief. She fears she will never see her son Brody grow up or play with their dog Oscar. 

 

Certainly, there is much more to both these stories which eventually entwine and unravel the truths and lies which have been buried but not forgotten. Betrayals which changed the course of people’s lives. 

 

This is an interesting story about the pros and cons of learning the “truth” of our ancestry. In these present days, finding out about unknown relatives is possible. Can knowing the truth of the past help the future? How does someone hide his past to protect his reputation? Sometimes, stories aren’t so black and white and seldom do they involve just the person himself. Secrets always have a way of rising to the surface over time. 

 

 

https://pin.it/6h9ydPr

 

https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/1874061485

 

https://www.edelweiss.plus/?sku=1250241626&g=4400

 

 

 

 

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