Review – The Road She Left Behind by Christine Nolfi @christinenolfi #5paws #womensfiction
Synopsis
Three women. Two families torn apart by secrets.
Crushed by guilt over the car accident that killed her father and sister, and torn apart by her mother’s resentment, Darcy Goodridge fled her family estate eight years ago and hasn’t looked back.
Now an unexpected phone call threatens to upend what little serenity she’s found. Her nephew, Emerson, who was just a baby when his mother died, has gone missing. Darcy must return home and face her past in order to save him.
Once back in Ohio, Darcy realizes there’s more to Emerson’s disappearance—and to the sudden retirement of her mother, Rosalind—than meets the eye. As she works to make inroads with Rosalind, Darcy begins to unravel a decades-old secret that devastated her family and forced a wedge between her and Michael Varano, the man she left heartbroken when she vanished after the funeral. After carrying the scars of that fateful night for almost a decade, Darcy is determined to find closure, healing, and maybe even love where she lost them all in the first place—right back home where she belongs.
Editorial Reviews
“At the very heart of The Road She Left Behind are the powerful lessons of humanity: forgiveness, healing, and letting go, all woven together with the threads that bind family and friends. You will laugh, you will cry, you will root these characters on, and miss them profusely when they’re gone. I know I do.” —USA Today bestselling author Rochelle Weinstein
“The Road She Left Behind masterfully knits together the past and present, showing us a fractured family, grave misunderstandings, and heart-wrenching betrayals. I connected with the flawed but lovable characters and found myself enthralled from the first page to the last. Bravo!” —Karen McQuestion, bestselling author of Hello Love
“In The Road She Left Behind, Christine Nolfi takes her gift of storytelling to new heights. You’ll find it all here: deft prose, troubled relationships that overcome and triumph, and a plot that will keep you guessing until the very end.” —Grace Greene, bestselling author of Wildflower Heart
Review
This book has it all – family, forgiveness, love, and understanding.
All families have some sort of dysfunction and Darcy’s is no different. A tragic accident tears apart her family and sets her on a path that is lonely since she has no communication with her family other than Latrice, the nanny/housekeeper that she has known all her life. And that contact is only once per year until a call out of the blue changes Darcy’s life forever.
It is hard to know who to feel sorry for in this book – there are so many characters with their own issues and I found myself rooting for various characters at different times. While the main character is Darcy, there are those that play a part in her life in different ways. Sampson is like an adopted son and Darcy is able to identify with him since he has been in the foster care system and bounced around from home to home until he turned 18 and is then out on his own. Michael was Darcy’s best friend and first love, but will he be her last? A misunderstanding caused their rift, will they be able to overcome? Rosalind is Darcy’s mother but she doesn’t seem to have a nurturing bone in her body. This could be due to her career as a judge or it could be due to her issues in her marriage. Emerson is Darcy’s nephew and quite a pistol! He is smarter than he should be and wants a family more than anyone knows.
All of these characters add depth to the book and the story is woven through time, heartache, and joy. You will even find some light moments that will make you laugh especially Michael’s grandmother, Tippi. She is quite a hoot.
We give this story 5 paws up and suggest you pick it up next time you are looking for a story that encompasses everything!
About the Author
The heartwarming fiction by Christine Nolfi has reached multiple bestseller lists and won numerous awards. The Sweet Lake Series has won gold medals in The Reader’s Choice Awards. The Midwest Book Review lists the Liberty Series as “highly recommended.”
Prior to writing fiction, Christine owned a public relations firm in Ohio. She closed the firm after adopting her four children from the Philippines. Today she resides in Charleston, South Carolina with her husband and her crazy Wheaten Terrier, Lucy.
