From the New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding Dress comes a new captivating novel of two women whose lives have been destroyed by disaster but find healing in a special house.
“Hauck is a master at weaving together plots from multiple time periods.” —Library Journal
Embracing the future means remembering the past . . .
When Beck Holiday lost her father in the North Tower on 9/11, she also lost her memories of him. Eighteen years later, she’s a tough New York City cop burdened with a damaging secret, suspended for misconduct, and struggling to get her life in order. Meanwhile a mysterious letter arrives informing her she’s inherited a house along Florida’s northern coast, and what she discovers there will change her life forever. Matters of the heart only become more complicated when she runs into handsome Bruno Endicott, a driven sports agent who fondly recalls the connection they shared as teenagers. But Beck doesn’t remember that either.
Decades earlier, widow Everleigh Applegate lives a steady, uneventful life with her widowed mother after a tornado ripped through Waco, Texas, and destroyed her new, young married life. When she runs into old high school friend Don Callahan, she begins to yearn for change. Yet no matter how much she longs to love again, she is hindered by a secret she can never share.
Fifty years separate the women but through the power of love and miracle of faith, they each find healing in a beautiful Victorian known affectionately as The Memory House.
“Accomplished Hauck demonstrates genre finesse as she blends inspirational romance with a cinematic style of storytelling, bringing empathic characters to life as they cope with grief in marriage and faithfulness, parenthood and adoption, death and tragedy. Challenging decisions, the blessing of finding love again, and the solace of a beautiful Victorian home all come together in this spellbinding, lovely novel.” —Booklist
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Sexual Content - 1/5
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Violence - 1/5
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Language - 0/5
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Drugs and Alcohol - 0/5
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Summary
The Memory House by Rachel Hauck is a well plotted novel that I enjoyed from start to finish. I had not read the back cover. Rachel is one of those authors I will read without the need to read the book description. So I was not prepared for Everleigh’s disaster as others may have been. I loved her character and connected with her through her struggles to live again. Don was perfect for her. “Perfect love drives out fear”.
Beck was a NY copy with serious issues. I really was not sure how Rachel was going to work through all of Beck’s issues. She gets suspended from her job. She has a major situation in her personal life to deal with. On top of all of that, she cannot remember anything regarding her dad after he died on 9/11. She inherits the house on Memory Lane and meets Bruno from her childhood. She and Bruno are a very cute couple. He has memories of them from when they were kids hanging out every summer at Ms Everleigh’s house. He wanted to marry her when he was 14.
Rachel is a master storyteller and excels at blending two stories together. Everleigh and Beck’s stories were stories of overcoming their pasts and being willing to love again. Rachel adds small details that flow between the stories that make them so special; for example the Studebaker. I highly recommend The Memory House.
Sexual content – no details but you are aware that someone had sex outside of marriage.
Violence – her dad dies in 9/11 and she hits a suspect
I received this book from publisher/author and was not required to write a positive review.
You can see my full review at More Than a Review dot com where I rate the level of sex, violence, language and drug/alcohol use in books.