A reunion between an estranged mother and daughter opens a world of secrets in a poignant novel by the bestselling author of Magnolia Nights.Julia Martin grew up wealthy, but it wasn’t until she met her husband, Jack, that she knew true happiness. He made her feel worthy and loved. Their marriage was also an escape from her sister’s bullying, her father’s scrutiny, and her chilly and enigmatic … chilly and enigmatic mother. But when tragedy strikes on the night she gives birth, Julia’s happiness is shattered. She has no choice but to return home to her family’s South Carolina mansion, where the grief and guilt buried in her mother’s past await her.
As a young woman trapped in a bitter marriage, Julia’s mother, Iris, once needed her own means of escape. In Lily, she found a best friend. In the flower shop they opened, she discovered independence. Then came a transgression—unforgivable, unforgettable, and unresolved—that changed Iris’s life forever.
Now, in Iris’s most desperate hour, her only hope is to regain the trust of the daughter she loves—and to share the secrets of the heart that could rebuild a family’s broken bonds.
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A beautifully written story of what friendship really means.
Ashley Farley has done it again. This is my new favorite book of hers hands down. I loved it from dramatic start to exciting, wonderful ending.
This family has lots of problems for sure. One daughter was forced away from her home because of love while the other daughter takes life for granted. Having tons of money does not buy happiness. For Iris, their mother, it has been one heartache after another. Max was not the best husband and I personally did not like him at all. I also did not like or feel much for Alex, the oldest daughter. Julia was a loving and very caring daughter who only wanted to be accepted as she was. Her only mistake was falling in love. After years of being separated from her family she came home. But with doing so many dark secrets were revealed.
It’s a story of love lost, friendships that withstand even the worst betrayals and a family who has so much pain. So may secrets between a husband and wife. Basically a loveless marriage but one that no one can walk away from. There are many deep dark secrets that will be found and a tragedy that takes years to come to light. I felt so bad for Iris. She was a very poor young girl who only wanted to be loved and accepted. She gave her all to a man and for over forty years she was faithful to him. She did everything for him. She gave him two daughters. But was that enough? Could she have done more?
This book will most definitely keep you reading until you reach the end. You will cringe in places and cheer in others. Many tears will fall and maybe a bit of laughter. It’s one of the very best southern fiction books I have read. It has a bit of everything that makes for an excellent read. One that I highly recommend to everyone.
Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
It’s a huge 5 stars from and I look forward to Ms Farley’s next wonderful book. Though this one will be hard to beat.
Ashley Farley/Southern Fiction/Only One Life=a fantastic novel! I love Ms. Farley’s books and had been looking forward to reading this, her newest novel, with great anticipation. It’s a wonderful book that took me into the lives of Iris and her daughter, Julia. The story takes place in two time lines and works well to bring the broken pieces of their mother/daughter relationship together that should never have been torn apart.
My heart was so broken at the beginning of this book for Julia. Things happen that are so sudden and unexplainable. Why did it have to happen? What good could ever come from it? Ms. Farley drew me into this story and I became involved in Iris and Julia’s lives. My heart felt broken with each and every situation that they were going through. I wanted them to be happy and feel loved and that they mattered. That there is a purpose for them and happiness. To rid themselves of burdens they carried that weren’t theirs to begin with. I felt compelled to turn the pages and take that journey with them.
I loved the characters in this book….well almost all. I despised two but they made Iris and Julia stronger and more determined to overcome the past. I felt I was in my hometown with people I could be neighbors and friends with as I became acquainted with them.
This is a story of taking your life and making something great with it. This passage is one that speaks of getting up, wiping off the dust and taking steps forward: “Life deals us a hand, honey, and it’s up to us to decide how we want to play our cards. You can either fold or you can put on your poker face and greet each day as it comes.” Those are such wise words that things can be different if we take one step at a time and make the most of what we have. “……one second, moment, hour at a time.” We have “ONLY ONE LIFE” and it’s a life that is a gift.
This book is a family drama with all of its dysfunctions and hate but also forgiveness and healing that tugged at my heart and emotions. I could just scream at some of the characters and then I’d want to wrap my arms around others and let them know that they are loved and worthy.
This is another wonderfully written novel by Ms. Farley. I’m honored that I was given the opportunity to read an ARC copy of this book. Well done, Ms. Farley! Thank you so very much!
I also want to thank Lake Union and Netgalley for the ecopy and I freely share my honest review. This is another five star read by an amazing author.
I started this book last night and was up late reading as I could not find a place to stop. I was pulled into this st.
This is an amazingly, heart tugging, moving story about family secrets that have been hidden and wealth. Can the family heal? Can a mother and daughter reconcile?
A story of family life, how those on the outside looking in see this family, and the reality of what is really happening behind closed doors.
Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.
Family drama, secrets, lies, tragedy, friendship and finally reconciliation. Ashley Farley has done it again – written a book that had my emotions so involved that I didn’t want the book to end. Thank you Ashley Farley and Netgalley for an ARC of this book.
Ashley Farley has done it again — brought her readers a riveting tale of family and love and heartache set in the beautiful low country of South Carolina. The characters are well written and the story will have you turning the pages to see how it ends. This dual time line novel gives us the mother’s story as well as her daughters. Both stories are equally interesting and show the heartache and love that can come from family.
When Julia met Jack, she knew she wanted to marry him despite her rich parent’s threat to kick her out of their home. She marries Jack and lives in a tiny house, estranged from her family but in love with her husband and her soon to be born son. When Jack is killed in a car accident, she tries to make it on her own but with only one salary, she is about to lose everything until she decides to go back to her parents and ask for help. Her father refuses to help Julia and her infant son but her mother, Iris insists that Julia will be allowed to live with them – much to the dismay of her sister who has spent her entire life bullying Julia. We also get Iris’s story. She was brought up poor and she ended up marrying the rich man who pursued her. He treated her and Julia terribly and only bonded with their daughter Alex who is as hateful and manipulative as he is. As Julia tries to navigate her new life in a home where she is not accepted, Iris is also forced to look at her past to see if she can change the future for herself and her daughter, Julia.
This is wonderfully well written Southern fiction. The characters are so well written that they feel like people that you know. It’s a story of family and love and forgiveness not only of others but also of yourself. I’ve enjoyed all of this authors books and this one is my new favorite.
Thanks to the author for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and I read this book in one afternoon because it just captured me and I had to keep reading. Julia, fell in love and became pregnant when she was in college. Her father disowned her and forced her mother to do so too. As I read the book, I kept thinking you really don’t know what goes on behind closed doors. Ashley Farley opened the doors and let us inside to see what does go on. Julia had many miscarriages before being able to carry a baby to term. The night that she went into labor there was a bad storm and a tree fell on their car. Her husband Jack didn’t make it. Without Jack’s income, their home was foreclosed and she was forced to eventually go back to her parent’s house. Her father didn’t want her and her son there but her mother stood up to him. After she moved back in she learned a lot about her family. There is what you think from the outside looking in and then there is what is really going on when the doors are open and the light is shed on it. It was an amazing book.
Emotions run deep in this story of family discord and turmoil. Secrets from the past are brought to the surface. How each character deals with those secrets kept me reading and experiencing a variety of feelings. Great read. I received a complimentary copy of the book. No review was required.
Last year I read Nell and Lady by this author and loved it, so I was expecting good things about her current effort. I wasn’t disappointed, as this ARC was definitely a “page turner”.
Iris is a product of a sad childhood, losing her parents at an early age and living with her sickly aunt, that reminded Iris every day how lucky she was to be there, in their shabby, cinderblock shack. She meets Max, the product of a wealthy, society family and soon learns she doesn’t measure up to their social standards. Max shows his distain for her and she quickly learns she will live in a loveless marriage.
This is a story of southern society and discrimination. A loveless, cruel union, a daughter’s struggle when abandoned by her family, tragedy, loss, a dysfunctional fractured family and the struggle to find love and success. This novel has it all.
Ashley Farley is a wonderful storyteller and really develops her interesting characters, some you love and others you really dislike. There was a nice pace to the story and wanting to finish it, I read too late, on the night we “sprung forward”! I received this ARC for my honest review and I thank Lake Union and Net Galley for the opportunity.
Only One Life is a compelling, bittersweet story about Julia and Iris, an estranged mother and daughter that must find their way back to each other after family secrets and dysfunction drive them apart. Equal parts heart-wrenching and heartwarming, you will root for these women as they face harsh tragedies, as well as the truths of their family’s past, with strength, grace and honesty. I highly recommend it.
I love this author’s books and this one was no different. The title is very appropriate to the theme of the book – that we only have one life to live so live life to the fullest.
This book deals with a tough subject – emotional abuse. I think this is so much harder to deal with than physical abuse. That is what Iris deals with for 40+ years in her marriage to Max. She has a best friend, Lily, but even Lily doesn’t know what is happening in Iris’ world.
The book encompasses many lives outside of Iris and Lily. There are children – Alex, Julia, and Gus, and their lives are turned upside down when secrets are revealed.
I found myself rooting for various characters and wasn’t sad when others got their just rewards.
I am hoping there might be another book to follow this one that showcases Alex. I think she has a story to tell and considering how this book ended, life may not be as good as she thinks it will be going forward.
I received a free ARC of this book from Netgalley and am writing my honest review.
There was something haunting beautiful about this book. Ms. Farley wove a stunning story of family secrets and how they always find a way of coming to light. This tale of forgiveness, love, and not always believing what you see could have gotten jumbled and confusing but in Ms. Farley’s capable hands, the book is an absolute masterpiece!
I really enjoyed this book! t starts out good, but it’s kind of sad. I admire the woman Julia (the main character) strength and character though. Julia and her husband Jack have been trying to have a baby for years. Julia has had several miscarriages. They have tried everything, even fertility shots and clinics. Now this time she’s pregnant again, but it looks like this baby will be born! Then, the night her water breaks and her husband Jack is taking her to hospital to have the baby; they are in a really bad storm. Their car is hit by a tree! I don’t want to spoil it for you, so I won’t tell you what happens next. This is probably classified as a women’s fiction, for it’s a multi-generational story that gradually unfolds as the novel goes on. One character who I did not like was Julia’s sister Alex; I didn’t like her at all. She is something else, unbelievable. But the story is completely believable and very well told. I didn’t see the climax coming nor the ending. This is a powerful book, check it out for highly satisfying read!
Beautiful story! This was definitely one of my favorite books written by Ashley Farley! She had me completely engrossed by the end of the first chapter. When the book begins we meet Julia and Jack Martin who are anxiously waiting for the birth of their baby. They have had a struggle in the past with pregnancy so this is a happy time for them. We find out early on that Julia grew up in a home with money but maybe not the happiest of homes, since she has been estranged from her family since marrying Jack. They don’t have a lot of money and the struggle is real, but they don’t lack in love and devotion to each other. Jack is a great husband. And soon to be a great dad. Julia is anxious to become a mom and looking forward to raising a family together. Unfortunately tragedy strikes when Julia goes into labor and their lives are changed forever…Whether she wants to or not, Julia must now return home to her mother Iris and try to mend the broken relationship they once had. Mother and daughter learn so much about each other. Julia had no idea that Iris was trapped in a loveless marriage all these years. She still has to struggle with a sister her continues her bullying ways, never growing out of her bad behavior as a child. Julia also must face some real truths about her father. He is not the man she had hoped he was. Together, her mother and her forge a new bond and begin to heal together. I love how this book explores all of their lives and even goes back in time when Julia and her sister were young. Ashley has a way of weaving a beautiful story that keeps you engrossed and wanting to know more. This book is suspenseful, dramatic, heartfelt, and loving. I loved the characters as well as the setting. I fully intend to listen to the audible version as well. This was a beautifully written novel! Thank you Ms. Ashley!
I have enjoyed all the Ashley Farley books I have read, this one is no exception. If you like Karen White and Patti Calahan-Henry you will love this one.
Only One Life by Ashley Farley is probably the best book I’ve read so far this year. It took me from crying, laughing, happy, more crying until a contented ending. I highly recommend this book to anyone that hasn’t or has read anything by Ashley Farley.
Only One Life is a thought-provoking and bittersweet tale of how family secrets and misplaced loyalty can destroy a family. Gripping, smart, and heartbreakingly honest, Farley’s latest is a compelling novel that belongs at the top of your must-read list.
What families may go through can be heartbreaking and joyous. The family in this book have gone through it all. I is a book you will enjoy reading as you go through the lives of one family.
Family secrets, love, loss, and family ties are bound together in this Southern novel by Ashley Farley. Julia Martin was disowned by her prominent family when she left college with an unexpected pregnancy to marry the love of her life. Ten years and despite multiple miscarriages, they were happy living the simple life, and, on the verge of finally having their family when tragedy strikes. After trying to make it with no support, she swallows her pride and returns home to find things are worse than she imagined. The only positive is reconnecting with her mother.
Iris has spent so long getting by in her marriage; her one salvation has been her florist shop. When Julia returns home with her grandson, she finally has a second chance. When the weight of the family secrets becomes too much, can she and Julia make it through and find happiness?
This is my second novel by Ashley Farley and I love the way she draws the reader into the story with her strong female characters and her focus on family, both the family you are born into and the one you create with friends. Her descriptions of the setting and world–building will make you feel that you are there with the characters.
I read this in one sitting, grab a beverage…maybe some sweet tea, and curl up in a comfy spot, and enjoy!
#OnlyOneLife #AshleyFarley #LakeUnionPublishers
This was a compelling, emotion filled story that drew me in from the start. When tragedy hits and sends Julia back home, she faces the father who cut her off from the family, the mother who let him, and the sister who bullied her growing up. Slowly family secrets are revealed and Julia learns the history her mother has kept hidden for years has slowly chipped away her at her mothers emotional health. Set in a quaint southern town this powerful story kept me engaged until the satisfying conclusion. Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.