When you wake up and there are years lost…

Synopsis

When Shelley Woodhouse wakes up in hospital from a coma, the first thing she says is that her husband must be arrested.

He’s the reason she’s in here. She knows it. She remembers what he did. Clearly as anything.

But there are things Shelley has forgotten too, including parts of her childhood. And as those start to come back to her, so do other memories. Ones with the power to change everything.

But can she trust these new memories, or what anyone around her is telling her? And who is the mysterious hospital volunteer who brings her food and keeps making her smile? Is it possible to find your future when you’re confused about your past.

My review

Shelley Woodhouse is certain that it’s her husband who got her in the hospital when she wakes up from her coma. Because she remembers how violent the man was she married, and she remembers clearly what happened that put her in the situation she is in now.
But Shelley is shocked when she realizes that what she believes is the truth, in fact isn’t as Shelley learns that she has forgotten many things, from her childhood, but also from her present.
And as memories seem to resurface, she doesn’t know if they are actual memories or just what the people around her are telling her.
Will Shelley ever remember what truly happened? And get her husband to pay for what he did? And who is the volunteer who keeps on visiting her, putting a smile on her face?

What a book this was… It angered me, it made me sad, but it also gave me joy, happiness and hope.

When Shelley wakes up, she is so sure of what happened and what brought her in this particular situation, but as a reader there are so many signs telling us that in fact what Shelley believes to have happened isn’t in fact the reality.

I can only try to imagine how confusing things may seem to Shelley, as she has forgotten so much and is convinced that her husband is the culprit.
And slowly, together with Shelley we start to learn about her life, her past and her present…

My heart truly broke when learning about her past. Even if things weren’t always easy, she had a happy life with her mother and her grandmother. And then everything changed when her mother met the wrong man.
From that moment Shelley’s life is somehow filled with fear, anger and even desperation. She sees what love shouldn’t look like, yet she is helpless as her mother fails to make the right choices.

And it for sure angered me to see history repeat itself when Shelley finds herself also in that same situation, failing to make the same right choice as her mother failed to do.
But while it’s easy to condemn Shelley for sticking around, and not just walking away, haven’t we heard it way to often how people find it so impossible to do what seems logical to do?
Why does it always have to come to a near miss before we find the courage?

How often I almost found myself screaming at Shelley, but as an outsider it’s always so easy to say what we would do in such situations. But it’s a whole different matter when you actually are in that specific situation…

Yet there are also many beautiful things in this book. Like how despite everything, Shelley still has her best friend by her side. And just the kindness of even strangers, like volunteer Matt, who with his kindness and just unselfishness manages to put a smile on Shelley face. I have to admit, my heart also skipped a beat a few times when Matt appears and spends time with Shelley.

Now, I have to admit, that when Shelley finally has all the pieces of the puzzle falling together, I already had a gut feeling about it. Of course not the complete picture was already clear to me, but the most important bits didn’t came as a surprise. But that didn’t take away my delight in seeing that I was right!

This isn’t always an easy book to read, as we can see how ugly people can be. And how difficult or almost impossible it can be for people to extract themselves from a horrendous situation. But we also see that in fact it is possible, and that we just have to find the courage that is hidden deep inside ourselves. And that even from the ugliest of situations, something beautiful, even inspiring can grow. And most important, that just because you have met the wrong person, it doesn’t mean that you stand alone, because there will always be people right by your side, helping you fight your battles…