A Life Without Water by Marci Bolden

EXCERPT: The anniversary of Katie’s death hit Carol especially hard this year. Tomorrow would have been her thirtieth birthday. She’d be a grown woman. She’d have a career. A family.

Carol should have been a grandmother. She should have a family to visit, to hear their laughter and share their stories. She should have had a lifetime of memories with her daughter. Instead, she had nothing more than a tiny front tooth, an old stuffed bear, and a box of knickknacks she couldn’t bring herself to throw away.

And an urn full of ashes.

ABOUT ‘A LIFE WITHOUT WATER’: Healing can take a lifetime…

Carol Denman divorced her husband over twenty years ago and has never looked back. But on the day before their daughter’s thirtieth birthday, John barges back into Carol’s life with a request that threatens the fragile stability she has built.

John Bowman is sick. Very sick. While he still can, he has some amends to make and some promises to fulfill. But to do that, he not only needs his ex-wife’s agreement…he needs her.

With the past hovering between them like a ghost, Carol and John embark on a decades-overdue road trip. Together they plunge back into a life without water…but which may ultimately set them free.

MY THOUGHTS: Marci Bolden tore my heart right out of my chest, tore it to pieces and pulverised it for good measure. Damn, it was good.

A Life Without Water is an emotional journey in forgiving, not only others but, most importantly, ourselves. It’s a story of love, of loss, of acceptance and forgiving. Be prepared for an emotional rollercoaster and arm yourself with a good supply of tissues before you open the cover.

I always find it easy to relate to Bolden’s characters, can usually see bits of myself in them. A Life Without Water is no exception. Had my ex-husband – who, incidentally shares the same name as Carol’s ex) turned up on my doorstep, I would no doubt initially have reacted much like Carol. But if this was my story, I very much doubt that it would have continued as it did.

I liked the fact that Carol and John didn’t instantly become friends again, that old resentments and hurts continued to raise their heads and demand to be dealt with. As the book moves on, both Carol and John get better at seeing how things actually were, rather than only recognizing their own perception of the event.

The ending was not what I expected at all, it is so much better. A truly beautiful read – yes it’s sad, but it is also full of redemption and hope.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

#ALifeWothoutWater #NetGalley

#contemporaryfiction #familydrama #womensfiction #sliceoflife

I: @marciboldenauthor #pinksandpress

T: @BoldenMarci #PinkSandPress

THE AUTHOR: As a teen, Marci Bolden skipped over young adult books and jumped right into reading women’s fiction and romance novels.

Marci lives in the Midwest with her husband, two teenaged kiddos, and numerous rescue pets. If she had an ounce of will power, Marci would embrace healthy living but until cupcakes and wine are no longer available at the local grocery store, she’ll put that ambition on hold and appease her guilt by reading self-help books and promising to join a gym “soon.”

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Pink Sand Press via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of A Life Without Water by Marci Bolden for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

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