The Other Year by Rea Frey

 On a coveted two-week beach vacation, working mom Kate Baker’s nine-year-old daughter, Olivia, vanishes suddenly among the waves—a heart-dropping incident that threatens to uproot her entire reality. But in the next moment, Olivia resurfaces, joyously splashing.

What would I do if she didn’t come up? Kate wonders. How would I live without her?

In another set of circumstances that hold a different fate, Kate doesn’t have to wonder. Because in that “other” world, in the pulse-pounding seconds after Olivia goes under, she doesn’t come back up.

Told in parallel timelines, Kate begins to live two lives—one in which Olivia resurfaces and one in which she doesn’t. In the reality that follows her daughter’s death, she maneuvers through every mother’s worst nightmare, facing grief, rage, and the ques­tion of purpose in the aftermath of such profound loss. She endures, day by day, in a world without her daughter.

In her alternate timeline, while she explores a tremulous romance with her best friend, Jason, she finds herself grappling with the ex-husband who abandoned Kate and Olivia years prior. Even as Kate scrambles to hold her daughter close, Olivia pulls further away. The line between joy and loss seems to get thinner with each passing day.

Woven into a single story, both Kates discover a breathtaking fragility and resilience in their respective journeys. Bringing to light the drastic polarities dire circumstances often create, The Other Year explores truths about love, loss, and the sharp turns any life can take in the blink of an eye. 

Pick up your copy here...                                                                                                                                     The Other Year: Frey, Rea: 9781400243105: Amazon.com: Books

Rea Frey is the award-winning, bestselling author of several nonfiction books and the suspense novels Not Her Daughter, Because You're Mine, Until I Find You, and Secrets of Our House. Her latest women's fiction novel, The Other Year, hits bookstores in August. Known as The Book Doula, Rea helps other writers birth their stories into the world. To learn more, please visit reafrey.com. 

My Thoughts...                                                                                                  This was a really hard read for me, I'm not going to lie. I have lost my only child and this one just shook me. It may be a great read for those who have not lost their child. I love Frey's books I have read them all this one was just really hard for me. The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.