When everything has gone down, can it find a way back up?

Synopsis

A heart-wrenching and life-affirming story of love and loss from number one bestselling author Nicola May

Gracie Davies is at an all-time low. After a devastating loss, the last thing she needs is a colleague hinting over coffee that it’s time to lose her baby weight. Then her boyfriend betrays her, and her world totally falls apart.

Rebuilding her life from scratch – with the support of her free-spirited sister, an unorthodox therapist, and a feisty new friend – Gracie finally begins to get her mojo back. Add in a passionate fling with handsome landscaper Ed, a fairytale encounter with a Hollywood film star and the persistence of her adulterous ex, and life is anything but predictable…

Soon she finds that community, purpose, and perhaps even new love might be the perfect prescription for a broken heart.

But can a heart that’s been so utterly shattered ever trust again?

Warm, witty, wildly sexy and deeply moving, Nicola May’s unforgettable novel is perfect for fans of Jojo Moyes, Marian Keyes, and Amanda Prowse.

This is a revised version of The Women of Wimbledon Common/The SW19 Club

My review

Gracie Davies has gone through hell, and is still there. Not only is she struggling with the lost of her babies, but also the knowledge of never be able to have any more babies, is crushing her. Her pain and grief are also affecting the relationship she has with Lewis, the man she loves with all her heart. But not only is she being body shamed, and being told that it’s time to lose her baby weight, she also discovers the moment that she is feeling a tiny bit better, that Lewis cheated on her… Now it’s up to Gracie to rebuild her life again, and instead of just going with the flow, and let things go their way, she decides to make several changes in her life. With the help from her sister, her therapist and a brand new friend, Gracie even starts to have a fling with landscaper Ed. However, Lewis doesn’t give up on Gracie that easily, and when a Hollywood film star  shows also an interest, Gracie feels that her life has never been this lively. But is it enough to heal her heart? And in order to heal it, Gracie also needs to understand what her heart truly wants, and if she can do what it takes to heal and to find her happiness once and for all…

This isn’t an easy story to read, especially those first chapters. Of course by reading the blurb I knew that Gracie would be going through hell, but I didn’t know that hell would be that, well, hellish, for her…

There are plenty of women in the world that lose their baby during the pregnancy. Unfortunately, that happens a lot, and somehow it is also something we as outsiders acknowledge, but taking about it, is still somehow a taboo. And only people who have been through such terrible events, can understand the pain, the grief and the sense of loss that comes with it. All the others, who have been lucky to have never been going through this, have no right to say what is right to feel or to say.

While losing a baby on itself, is already terrible enough, Nicola May decided to make things even worse for Gracie. Because not only has Gracie lost twins, but she also needed to have a hysterectomy, burying her hopes and dreams of becoming a mum completely…

Of course Gracie is struggling, if she weren’t, it wouldn’t be normal. How can someone cope with everything that Gracie has been going through? And the audacity of some people, not understanding or showing any kind of compassion…

Luckily, Gracie finds herself surrounded by people willing to help her. Not only does she has the most supporting sister, but also her therapist is there to listen to her. And Gracie finds not only an ally but a real friend in Maya.

Help she also has and needs when she discovers that Lewis has done the unthinkable, with someone she never expected. And while that only breaks her heart even more, or rather her heart has been through a blender, it is also in a way the kick in her ass she maybe needed to get her life back on track.

That last straw is a real eye – opener for Gracie. She understands that she needs to live again, to get that spark back in her eyes. Obviously her heartbreak won’t just disappear overnight, but she realizes that she needs to start somewhere. But finding that somewhere, that something, isn’t that easy to find.

I truly liked seeing how slowly the light is returning in Gracie’s eyes. Even if I had my own reservations and thoughts about Ed, and Gracie having a fling with him, it was also the medicine Gracie needs. Even if Ed is having his own struggles and difficulties to go through.

Now, I also need to say that there were a few moments where I thought that Gracie wasn’t doing the right thing. That perhaps she was acting too much on impulse instead of thinking rationally about what to do. But it also felt right in a way for Gracie to do the wrong thing. Because Gracie is going through a learning curve, she is growing, and the only way to do such, is by trial and error.

Seeing Gracie grow, made me feel proud of her, as she slowly starts to get out of her shell, and even chase her dreams. She isn’t afraid to start all over again, not only personally but also professionally. And I even was in awe of her, how she manages to turn the terrible things she has been through into something positive, and how she makes it possible to help others too.

Yes, a lot is happening in Gracie’s life since the start of the book, as she meets different people, all affecting Gracie one way or another. And yes, I could start talking more in detail about Ed, or about the Hollywood star. But while they are in Gracie’s life somehow, I feel like talking too much about them in my review, would take away the spotlight on Gracie’s complete journey.

While the main focus is definitely on Gracie, we also get snippets of the life of other characters, like Maya, or Gracie’s therapist, Scott. While their lives are entwined with Gracie’s, they are facing their own, personal struggles and life – changing events. Their moments show us that we never truly know what happens in someone else’s life.

Nicola May wrote an inspiring story, about how to cope with grief and loss. Nicola shows us that sometimes things have to go way down before we are able to rebuild our lives again, to find that spark again, and to even become a beacon for other people. And to find a way to fix something that we thought was irrevocably broken…