“By all accounts, Abby Holden has it all. She’s the mother of a beautiful teenager and the wife of a beloved high school football coach. And all it took to achieve her charmed life was her greatest act of betrayal. Coach Ryan can coax his team to victory, but he can’t seem to make his wife, Abby, happy. Her struggles with depression have marred their marriage and taken a toll on their daughter, Juliana. Although this isn’t the life he’s dreamed of, he’s determined to heal the rifts in his family. Chasing waterfalls and documenting their beauty has led photographer Lauren Sheppard all around the world. Now it has brought her back home to the mountains of North Carolina—back to the scene of her devastating heartbreak. For the first time in seventeen years, a trio of once-inseparable friends find themselves confronting past loves, hurts, and the rapid rush of a current that still pulls them together…”
The story is told from the view points of the three friends, as well as from Abby and Ryan’s daughter’s view point. Abby suffers from debilitating depression. Although Ryan still things of his ex-girlfriend Lauren often, he is committed to his wife and is shown as the ultimate good guy. He is a good father, a good husband, and a great coach, serving as a role model to his football players and even going so far as to bring one of them home with him when he doesn’t have a good home to go to. Julianna’s life is complicated by her mother’s depression, but she is close with her father. She is also dating the football player that her father brings home. Lauren is a photographer and a writer, though she publishes her popular novels under a pen name. She must return home to North Carolina to finish her photography book and photograph waterfalls near where she grew up. Her return causes all three adult parties to reevaluate what happened in their respective and combined pasts and to determine where they will go in the future.
Much is made in the book about betrayal and honesty and how things might have been different if truths were shared from the beginning. I enjoyed most of the book, but I wouldn’t say it was a quick read for me. All in all, it was a worthwhile read about family and friendship and the ways our actions make things fall.
What have you been reading lately?
