1984. Bessie is a confident sixteen-year-old girl with the world at her feet, dreaming of what life will bring and what she’ll bring to this life. Then everything comes crashing down. Her bright and trusting smile is lost, banished by shame―and a secret she’ll carry with her for the rest of her life.

2021. The last thirty-seven years have not been easy for Bess. At fifty-three she is visibly weary, and her marriage to Mario is in tatters. Watching her son in newlywed bliss―the hope, the trust, the joy―Bess knows it is time to face her own demons, and try to save her relationship. But she’ll have to throw off the burden of shame if she is to honour that sixteen-year-old girl whose dreams lie frozen in time.

Can Bess face her past, finally come clean to Mario, and claim the love she has longed to fully experience all these years?

My Thoughts:

I thoroughly enjoyed this story about Bessie, we see Bessie as a young girl and then in the present as a older lady. Amanda’s books have a way that draws you in and makes you feel involved in the story. I liked how it goes from the past and present as we really see how Bessie grows up, I loved all the characters and the well thought out plot, it was a heartbreaking story that had me in tears as you truly never know what goes on behind closed doors. I think the story taught me that actions do have consequences and that you never really know what people are going through unless you are going through the same thing. Amanda’s books are brilliant and I look forward to the next book.

I received an ARC copy of this book for an honest review.

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