After the Crash: My Review

 

After the Crash

About the Book:

Since the sudden death of her husband in a car accident, writer Louisa Adams has done her best to hold herself together. But every morning that she wakes to find his side of the bed cold is more painful than the last, and she’s struggling to make ends meet. She must admit defeat and move into the crumbling seaside hotel her daughter just bought. Perhaps it might help put what’s left of their broken family back together…

Her career falling apart around her, Louisa is offered a final chance – to write an article on a local sand artist, Isaac. Except, when he turns to greet her – tall, handsome, weather-worn and wearing the same dusty pink shirt her husband once owned – her heart skips a beat. Why, when he looks into her eyes, does she feel like he knows exactly who she is and everything she’s been through?

As they explore the rugged coastline’s hidden coves together – laughing and living like she never thought she could again – Louisa finds herself drawn to the way Isaac celebrates the little moments in life. Why create beautiful sculptures in the sand every day only to see them washed away with the tide the next morning?

But with her deadline fast approaching, the discovery of a charcoal scribble in one of Isaac’s sketchbooks linking him to the crash that killed her husband exposes a secret that could tear her family and her heart apart all over again…

My Comments:

I enjoyed reading this story about a woman more or less my own age, as so many of the books I read are about women my daughter's age.  

The story is set in an English coastal town where Louisa is a newcomer.  We follow her through the streets and onto the beach, and we meet other people in the town as she does.  Of course one of those people is Isaac and through her interactions with him, Louisa starts to come back to life.  I think Emma Davies did a good job painting a word picture of the town.  

Louisa is a freelance writer who almost exclusively writes for one magazine and the editor has heard about Isaac's sand sculptures and wants an article.  Isaac does not want people to know about him.  For the first time Louisa is forced to think about how her articles affect those she writes about--she's mostly an investigative journalist.  I enjoyed reading about her writing process and difficulties.  

I'd like to thank the publisher for making a review copy available via NetGalley.  Grade: B