Today’s team review is from Noelle, she blogs here https://saylingaway.wordpress.com
Noelle has been reading The Sum Of Our Sorrows by Lisette Brodey
The Sum of Our Sorrows is first and foremost a story of the worst kind of loss – that of a mother, leaving behind with her young daughters. It weaves into the tragedy the kindness of a dear friend, the slow healing of the mind (with and without professional help), the behavioral changes in both children and husband such a loss can create, and redemption. A lot to pack into a book!
Abby, the mother of three daughters and wife to Dalton, is tragically killed in a car accident in northern California. Charlotte, the middle daughter, is in the car and survives but is emotionally and mentally altered by the experience. I was completely drawn to the oldest daughter, Lily, who while suffering the same loss, is told by her father that she must give up her job and her plans for college to stay home and take care of her sisters and him. She acquiesces without quite understanding why her father would ask that of her, and it is clear that none of his daughters truly know him, except from a distance. Lily desperately wants a life of her own and is torn between knowing she has to care for her family and wanting to leave. She realizes that if she leaves her two younger sisters they may not recover from the loss. When her father makes more and more demands of her, treating her as his wife in all but the physical sense and demanding she no longer interact with her friends, her desperation only grows.
Lily’s voice is obviously very strong, as was Charlotte’s, the middle child. I truly felt Lily’s confusion, guilt and sorrow and Charlotte’s continuous rebellion against her family as an outlet for her grief. Her troubles only pile up as time goes on, and Lily is patient when she can’t reach her. Maybe too patient, but Lily is not one to make demands or voice her own opinion except to her closest friends. Willow, the youngest child at twelve, was not as clearly defined. She seemed preternaturally old for her age, and sometimes her voice was so akin to Lily’s that I felt Lily was talking to herself. I would have liked to see her with some normal preteen problems.
Dalton, the father, was so ignorantly overbearing and dismissive of Lily’s needs that I wanted to give him a good shake, so in that sense, the author did a good job creating his character. His dismissal of Kady – Abby’s best friend and now Lily’s confidant – from their lives hinted early on that there was much more to this family than initially apparent. Just when Lily’s life has reached its lowest point, something wonderful happens, but that something only makes things even more difficult for Lily. You have to read the book to find out.
I will say the ending is a little too tidy for me. Life is messy and its struggles are rarely resolved by being tied up in a bow. So I wish the end was not so perfect, although it should please many readers.
This was a good book, one that kept my attention long enough to be riveted by the twists arising from the backstory of Abby’s life and the surprises in Lily’s. For readers who like family dramas with some right turns and a little romance, this will be a pleaser.
In an idyllic suburb in Northern California, tragedy strikes the Sheppard family when Abby, the mother of three daughters and wife to Dalton, is killed in a car accident. Charlotte, the middle daughter, is in the car with her mother and survives without physical injury but remains deeply scarred on the inside.
Dalton tells Lily, his eldest daughter, that she must sacrifice long-awaited college plans and put her life on hold to take care of her sisters. Lily is torn between her devotion to family and an increasing need to find her place in the world — but how can she leave, knowing her family may crumble?
Will her presence eventually cause more problems than it resolves?
The Sum of our Sorrows reveals how the aftermath of a family tragedy can precipitate sorrows never imagined.
It is a tale of grief, hope, healing, coming-of-age, friendship, and survival. It is also a love story of two broken souls living through pain in search of better days and the renewal of one’s spirit.
Rosie Amber 
Thank you so very much for reading and reviewing my latest book, The Sum of our Sorrows. I really appreciate it. This book is special to me, for several reasons, and I probably wrote more drafts than any book I’ve written. I lost count after 15. 🙂
I know there are many books out there to choose from, and I’m very grateful for the time given to my book.
Thank you so much!
Best always,
Lisette
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