Just be prepared…

Synopsis

United by tragedy, can two broken souls make each other whole?

After the tragic loss of his wife, Helen, Luke Hansard is desperate to keep her memory alive. In an effort to stay close to her, he reaches out to an online friend Helen often mentioned: a reclusive photographer with a curious interest in beautiful but broken objects. But first he must find her—and she doesn’t want to be found.

Orla Kendrick lives alone in the ruins of a remote Suffolk castle, hiding from the haunting past that has left her physically and emotionally scarred. In her fortress, she can keep a safe distance from prying eyes, surrounded by her broken treasures and insulated from the world outside.

When Luke tracks Orla down, he is determined to help her in the way Helen wanted to: by encouraging her out of her isolation and back into the world. But Orla has never seen her refuge as a prison and, when painful secrets and dangerous threats begin to resurface, Luke’s good deed is turned on its head.

As they work through their grief for Helen in very different ways, will these two broken souls be able to heal?

My review

Luke Hansard lost his wife in a terrible accident. Finding it hard to put it all behind him, he does whatever he can to keep feeling her close to him.
So he wants to find her online friend she often mentioned.
But the online does not want to be found…

Orla Kendrick lives alone in a castle she bought, hiding from her past. She doesn’t want anyone around and chases everyone away. Her only passion is collecting broken things and post them online.
When Luke suddenly appears on her doorstep, her initial thought is to send him also away. She changes her mind when she hears the devastating news of Helen…

Luke makes it his mission to help Orla and get her out of her house. Is Orla ready for stepping outside again? And is Luke just pushing his grieve away?

Just terrible, that were my thoughts…

Now, after given the author a heart attack for my statement, let me explain further…

This story was just heart – gripping, tear jerking, “oh my God it’s so sad I cannot read any further but I must”!

The first time I met Luke, I felt so sorry for him. He truly loves Helen and coping with losing her is just something he is not ready to do.
I can only imagine the pain he was going through…
And when he made it his purpose to find Orla, I was partly happy for him to have something again, but also a bit afraid that he would just find ‘an excuse’ for not grieving how it should.

And when Orla comes in the picture, that was even worse! Something terrible happened to her and because of that, she refuses to see anyone, with the exception of her mother once in a while.
when we finally get to know her story, oh my God, it was even worse than I thought!!! And I understood somehow why she closed herself off…

Before you think this story is too depressed, it isn’t…
Luke and Orla slowly start to become friends. And it’s one with many bumps… they both want to help each other, but are not facing their own demons.
But when you see the friendship grow, it’s just beautiful. You can feel the trust growing and how they accept their ‘brokenness’ without judgement.
And when one of them is going through some difficult moments, the other one is there for support.

And that is the message the author is giving, I think.  No matter how broken you are, you are still yourself. Like Orla collecting broken things, it’s not because something is broken, it isn’t beautiful anymore.
When something is broken, it doesn’t mean it has to be thrown away. Being broken but moving on is proof of your strength. And that makes you even more beautiful.
And even if you think you can manage on being on your own, you can always have friends to stick by your side and help processing everything happening to you.

This story broke my heart, made me cry, but also made me smile and showed me that friendships can be found in the strangest places. And that true friends never just give up on you and see you as you really are, no matter how your looks are. But they also can push you to do unthinkable things, but always keep your best interest in mind.

Really, take me on my word, this book is something you MUST read!