An emotional novel of family, friendship and forgiveness from Courtney Walsh, the New York Times bestselling author of Hometown Girl.Lyndie St. James is thrilled that her best friend, Elle, is getting married but unprepared for the emotional storm of the wedding week and returning to her childhood summer home of Sweethaven. The idyllic cottage community harbors some of her best—and … of her best—and worst—memories. It’s not only the tragic death of her childhood friend Cassie that has haunted her for ten years, it’s the other secrets she’s buried that have kept her from moving on.
But Lyndie isn’t the only one with secrets.
Cassie’s mother, father and brother, still struggling with the loss, have been drifting further and further apart. And Elle herself, the last to see Cassie alive, carries an impossible burden of guilt. Now reunited, each of them has a choice: to reveal the truths of that night or continue to live in its shadow. That means embarking on a personal journey of the heart—to escape the darkness and all its regrets and to finally come to terms with the past and, especially, with each other.
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I couldn’t put this hauntingly beautiful book down, nor could I stop thinking about it when I absolutely did have to set it aside for a moment. This story is all wrapped up in one tragic secret involving a death. Cassie, Lyndie, and Elle were inseparable during the summers while growing up and with Cassie’s unexpected death years earlier, the other two have drifted apart.
It’s been ten years since Cassie’s death and it seems that she was the glue of this broken, tangled cast of characters, yet they’re coming together once again for Elle’s wedding and to remember Cassie. This book does not spell out the struggles that Elle and Lyndie have endured over the years, nor does it reveal the secrets that each hold relating to that night long ago. As the story progresses, these guilty secrets are gradually uncovered and the emotion relating to these revelations will rip and shred the heart. And what do you do when a character makes choices differently than you would? Why, you forgive them, of course!
The feelings these characters brave are raw, powerful, and vivid, but an underlying current of hope shadows the words. I was completely invested and grasped in the clutches of this book and in the lives of these characters. This is an intoxicating read and the messages of hope, love, forgiveness, and second chances are ones that will stay with you long after the last page is read.
Content: moderate romantic elements (kissing, premarital relations, a tough choice); moderate religion (grace, forgiveness, hope, repenting, etc); mild+ violence (death); underage drinking
An emotionally charged story
My rating is 4.5 stars
Elle was about to become the wife of a wonderful man who just happened to be a pastor. And the son of the pastor of a huge and thriving ministry. Her mother-in-law-to-be was constantly sharing with her ways she should change and how important it was for her to live up to the standards of a godly Christian woman. Oh, how I was angered by Nora!!
The night Cassie died, the lives of her best friends took a tailspin. For Lyndie, Elle, and Tucker, guilt overpowered them and shadowed their lives. They all had secrets from that night and each felt responsible. If only they. . .
Things Left Unsaid highlights the pain that can result from not communicating. For allowing hidden guilt to grow and fester. The walls that they had erected in an attempt to protect themselves and the fear they carried at the thought that if anyone knew what happened, they would be rejected.
Each character had depth and resonated with me. I wouldn’t have liked Tucker much ten years earlier, but the way that he had changed gave me hope for him. He wasn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, yet he had developed a maturity and responsibility that had him headed in the right direction.
Once again, author Courtney Walsh created a story that packs a wallop, bringing her readers through an emotional wringer, yet not leaving them hanging out to dry. The changes that were wrought in that short week before the wedding were monumental, and yet the way they unfolded made sense and didn’t seem at all forced. I love the way that each of these friends saw the reaction to the truth of what happened that night and were set free. And I especially loved the way the story brought out how many of the things that had been assumed to be true were shown in their true light once communication began.
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I was given a free copy of this item. This gift did not influence my opinion or review.