Hello, friends! Here on the cusp of summer, I am delighted to share with you a book I loved that offers potential for perfect summer reading.

A Hand to Hold in Deep Water by newcomer Shawn Nocher was the book that finally broke a months-long reading slump. It accompanied me on a recent trip, and–fortunately or unfortunately–I found it so engrossing I was hard-pressed to put it aside to accomplish the work I’d also brought along.

At 483 pages, it is a hefty tome, but every page is filled with some of the most beautiful writing I have lately encountered, words strung together in a way that constantly surprised and delighted me. (The kind that tempts me to indulge in some major writer-envy.)

Of course, no book is going to hold anyone’s attention for its writing alone, and here too A Hand to Hold in Deep Water shines. Though far more character-driven than plot-driven, its vibrant, richly drawn characters are completely engaging. The story is told from the point of view of three characters–equally strong, equally compelling. May DuBerry’s voice, presented as her journal writings, is particularly vivid.

Not to say that the plot is a snooze. I was particularly impressed with the clever way the author unraveled the rest of the mystery and enabled the satisfying ending.

Much as I savored it, though, I must warn that A Hand to Hold in Deep Water is probably not for everyone. Conservative readers, beware–this is a mainstream novel featuring characters making mainstream choices. It deals with heavy subjects, including a desperately ill child. And at its heart, a shattered family reckoning with the consequences of chilling dysfunction. Triggers abound.

But this is the kind of book I’m most drawn to. Why? Because though it is dark, it not without hope. It paints a portrait of what it means to see and celebrate beauty in the midst of deep, even irreconcilable, brokenness.

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About this book

Willy Cherrymill and his stepdaughter, Lacey, are deeply bruised by a past brimming with unanswered questions. It’s been thirty years since May DuBerry, Willy’s young wife and Lacey’s mother, abandoned them both leaving Willy to raise Lacey alone.

Lacey Cherrymill is smart, stubborn, and focused. She’s also single mother to a young daughter recently diagnosed with a devastating illness. The last thing she needs to think about right now is the betrayal that rocked her childhood. Reluctantly, she has returned to her rural beginnings, a former dairy farm in the Maryland countryside, and to Willy, a man steeped in his own disappointments and all the guilt that goes with them.

Together they will pool their wobbly emotional resources to take care of Lacey’s daughter, Tasha, all the while trying to skirt the issue of May’s mysterious disappearance. But try as she might, Lacey can’t leave it alone. Just where is May DuBerry Cherrymill and why did she leave them, and how is it that they have never talked about the wreckage she left behind?

A Hand to Hold in Deep Water is a deeply felt narrative about mothers and daughters, the legacy of secrets, the way we make a family, and the love of those who walk us through our deepest pain. It is about the way we are tethered to one another and how we choose to wear those bindings. These are characters you won’t soon forget and, more so, won’t want to leave behind when you turn the last page.

About the author

Shawn Nocher’s compelling short stories have appeared in numerous literary magazines. She earned her master of arts in writing at Johns Hopkins University, has two grown children, and lives with her husband and an assortment of rescue animals in Baltimore, Maryland. This is her first novel.

Connect with Shawn at shawnnocher.com.

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Thanks to Blackstone Publishing for providing me a free copy to review. All opinions are mine.

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