After an unfortunate job-related incident, Mallory finds her life unraveling. She’s unable to deal with the emotional fallout and is forced to take a leave of absence. Somewhat reluctantly, she makes her way back home. She and her mother have never had the closest of relationships but it’s the only safe harbor she knows. She didn’t know, however, that her first love and one time fiancé would alse be there. Things being what they are in a small town, they eventually cross paths. They’re able to broker an uncomfortable truce. But there are bigger things going on in both of their lives, things that will entangle them in unimaginable ways. Secrets will be found out, and relationships will be tested. Will Mallory be able to make peace with her past? This was a really good story. Somewhat of romance, it’s actually more of a tale of families and the messiness that’s involved.

“The waiting is not hard on this side. Our reunion is only a matter of time, and time is nothing. The blink of an eye. The beat of a heart. The release of a breath.”

You’d think a book that deals with so much death would be entirely bleak.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there are moments where you want to hide this book in the freezer, but the author somehow manages to make everything calm and comforting and beautiful.

Author as Death Dula?

Through the family-home setting, the epistolatory nature of multiple timelines, and the personal growth by (almost) all the characters, this book is a bit of a weighted blanket. It’s hard to get out from under it, but really, why would you want to?

Themes of second chances, death, maturation, and trauma, really drive home the interconnectedness of family (both bio & found) and I loved watching the community grow closer.

This is my first from this author, and I can’t wait to track down her extensive back catalogue.

This is fantastic for the right reader. I'm not sure I'm that reader, but there's no reason for it. The book does everythinng well except resonate with me.

Every Precious And Fragile Thing
by Barbara Davis

I loved the layers and the beauty of how events began to unfold in front of my eyes, a true masterpiece.

I started reading a story about a young woman undergoing a tough and extremely challenging moment in her career. She had a job that would break anyone’s heart. However hard, she was fully invested and tried and tried up until she broke. Mallory had to step aside, Jevet was right. She had to think, to elaborate, to find light in the darkness that surrounded her. And so her journey back home began.

Mallory and Helen didn’t get along, maybe it was a matter of understanding, maybe it was silence that stretched too much. Maybe it was everything we leave unfinished and that at one point or another it gets us. Why do we leave so much unsaid? Why do we wait for a right moment that will never come? I have no answer for that.

This is the story of how women experience love, loss and motherhood. How women face their worst nightmares, those things that were inimaginable. How resilience and love are key tools to overcome the obstacles that seemed impossible. And how second chances can fill their hearts with a joy that once, along the way, had been stolen.

“Aren’t we a pair?” That was one of my favorite quotes, and I hope that while reading the story you too experience the love, the joy, the tears and the overwhelming sense of sorority that I experienced. This story is truly precious.

Special thanks to the author for sharing such private reflections of her own personal experience.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I really enjoyed Barbara Davis's The Keeper of Happy Endings and this is another good one. When social worker Mallory Ward is forced to take a leave of absence from her job in Boston after an unfortunate incident, she hesitantly retreats to her mother's home on the coast of Rhode Island. Her relationship with her mother has been strained for years, so this is pretty uncomfortable for her. Complicating things even further is coming face-to-face with another painful part of her past that she thought she had moved on from. As the summer goes on, Mallory learns a lot about herself and the choices she has made in her life as well as uncovering some deep secrets from her mother's past. I look forward to reading Barbara Davis's next book. Thanks to #netgalley #lakeunionpublishing and #barbaradavis for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book had me having all kinds of feelings. One of the plot lines overlaps a little with my life but still. Feelings.

It has a second chance at love and second chance with family. The characters are great and relatable. I was sucked in from the start.

It really showcases the love a mother has for her child. No matter their age. Everyone grew and learned from each other. And that twist. I’ll say it might be better than some of the thrillers I read.

It’s a heartfelt book with some tough issues but worth all the feelings. Three strong women that ultimately make the most of their situations.

It pulled at my heartstrings and I may have shed a tear or two.

Mallory Ward works with at risk teens in Boston, but when one of her clients is found dead, Mallory is asked to take a step back and reevaluate if this is where she’s meant to be. She returns home, to the small town of Little Harbor, where she faces a strained relationship with her mother and confronts the past of a miscarriage and broken engagement from the boy next door, who she fell in love with at the age of fifteen. Mallory’s mom, Helen, is a death doula who cares for the terminally ill. Mallory has always felt that she came in second to Helen’s work, but Helen has been closely holding a multitude of secrets that come to light, upon Mallory’s return home for the summer.

Every Precious and Fragile Thing is an emotional read that follows the POVs of three women in the story. They are all dealing with past regrets and the consequences of long held secrets. Davis does an amazing job of revealing how each woman is dealing with these secrets directly or indirectly. Mallory’s relationship with her mother and the loss of her young love, Aiden, has left emotional scars that have always sent her running from her problems rather than facing them head on. Her forced leave from work takes her back home where she has to face the hard issues that she has been unwilling to resolve over the past 10 years.

Over the course of the story, Helen’s past is revealed through journal entries, and I found I was most sympathetic towards her character. She endured an abusive relationship with her mother, in which religion was used as a weapon, was separated from the person she loved, and faced criticism and gossip because of her work as a death doula. One of the strongest proponents of that gossip was her next door neighbor, Estelle, who was Aiden’s mother. Estelle worked to sabotage the relationship between Mallory and Aiden, but when faced with a terminal diagnosis, she finds herself leaning on Helen, and finding forgiveness and friendship.

There is a twist revealed later in the story, part of which I had figured out early on, but the other part of it was a surprise. I thought it was done really well, and added another complex layer to the book. Each of the characters had a lot to work through, and even though I was frustrated with their choices, I could see how Davis was using their grief and regrets to lead them into the opportunities for second chances.

Every Precious and Fragile Thing will lead you on a heart-breaking journey through the lives of these characters, but it also offers hope for mending broken relationships and overcoming the regrets of the past, to find happiness in the present and the future.

Wow, what an incredibly beautiful piece of work. I guess the one downside to arc reading is there’s no one to warn you about how bad a book is going to hurt. So, this is me warning you… this book hurts.

This book to me at its core is an exploration of the things that can be ‘fixed’ and the things that can’t, and that either way we can’t do anything but continue to put one foot in front of the other and hopefully finding we can eventually find a place where our past and present can be reconciled.

I am not the best at putting all my thoughts into eloquent words and I guess that is why I read books instead of writing them.

I will say that there were so many things I loved about this story and the way the story was told. One of those being the creative switch between first and third person perspectives.

There’s so much I want to talk about but without giving spoilers it seems near impossible. I can’t wait for more people to have read this so I have more people to discuss it with. This book is going to stay with me for a long time.

A thousand thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for giving me a chance to read an e-arc of this book.

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy

Wow this one got me! I did not expect the twist or see it coming. If you enjoy family drama, specifically mother/daughter relationships, second chance romance, and a dual POV, this one is for you. A death doula and her daughter reconnect and secrets come out. Definitely one I'll remember.

This book is wonderful. It tells the story of parent/child relationships. It has the longing of lost love. There are some poignant reminders of the cycle of living as one of the characters is a death doula.

The story is told in multiple points of view. There is a mother, Helen; her adult daughter, Mallory, and Helen’s neighbor, Estelle. There are also journal entries that supplement the POVs.

The book reminded me that being fragile doesn’t equate to being weak.

I love Barbara's books so much I just want to give her a big hug. She is a true storyteller and even though I'm pretty sure I know how I want it to end, the journey she takes us on to get there is worth every word.

This book is the same as her others -- warm, comforting and something you will carry you no matter how many books you read.

Thank you Barbara!!

Every Precious and Fragile Thing by Barbara Davis is the first book I’ve read by this author and it won’t be my last. I also own a few others by her and now I need to make work of sliding them into my schedule. This was a book I didn’t expect and was a surprise to me. I am in awe of the beautiful book she wrote.

There are two main characters in this book. It starts out with Mallory who is a social worker who feels this is her calling until she finds herself at a crossroads in her life when a client is brutally murdered. She takes a leave of absence and returns to her mothers home. Her mom is Helen who also has a calling as a death doula. These two ladies make the book worth reading, but there is so much more to their story.

There is a part of this book that made me stop and go back to the beginning to see if I missed something. I always love a book that catches me by surprise. A surprise that adds a little something to the book that I totally didn’t see coming. For me, this makes a book and the story line stand out as something different. I like a book that makes me think and look at something in a different way than I had before.

There are so many themes in this book and one that comes up often is one of forgiveness of the transgressions of others and ourselves. Sometimes we are hardest on ourselves when we think we have made a serious mistake or overlooked something. We need to remember that forgiveness is one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves and one another.

Barbara tells us at the end of the book that her own husband received his own diagnosis of cancer during the writing of this book and that she struggled with writing and research during this time. Anyone who follows her on social media knows this and it was heartwarming to hear how the bookworld came together for Barbara and her husband Tom.

If you are like me and have not read a Barbara Davis book yet, then this is the time to jump right on in. I loved this book and the life lessons that I learned along the way. I think you need to put this on the top of your tbr list. Until next time…Happy Reading!

Don’t forget to support the authors you read by leaving a review.

This was a beautiful story about family and forgiveness. When a tragedy occurs in Mallory's job, she takes leave and goes home. Her and her mother, Helen, have a rocky past filled with secrets and they don't really get along. When she gets there, she runs into an old love that she almost married, Aiden. They are both broken in ways and it's awkward to be around each other.

I loved every part of this. The past we get to see from Helen, her journal and the mystery person she's writing to. The journey of healing Aidan and his mother go through. All is just beautiful.

Queue music from “Moonlight Sonata” by Beethoven, or ...
Queue music from “Fragile” by Sting

Excuse me while I pick up all the tissues – this book was such a "tragic tale, but so beautiful, too" ! Truth be told, this book has moved me so much, I really need extra time to organize everything I want to say, but it begs trying now, in the hope that someone else has read it or will so we can discuss!

I loved several of Davis’ back list, but I think this is my favorite of her novels. Every Precious and Fragile Thing is the second book I have read this month dealing with dignity death, a topic we tend to shy from, yet I found the novel fluid and easily navigable. The story was beautifully written, with characters, their relationships, and their dialog so real, and so raw, I found myself swept up in their current.

Davis tackled the sensitive topic from several POVs, while also fleshing out both sides of the controversy, the pros/cons, the relationships and the effects of those leaving, and those left behind. I think I had notes and took quotes from almost every page. I will be posting about this novel again – it is so good, it begs further discussion!

Thank you Barbara Davis, NetGalley and @suzyapprovedbooktours for my ePub copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

4.5 stars rounded to 5. I love Barbara Davis novels and this one was no exception. A beautifully crafted story of time and lost loves and how unspoken thoughts can snowball. Definitely one to read this summer

This is a story that will tug at your heart. I love contemporary fiction with a heart and family and this book fits the bill perfectly! It’s told in multiple POV so you hear from Mallory, the daughter, and Helen, the mother. Both women are struggling with their past romantic relationships. I loved the relationships between the characters. Each relationship is special and has its own challenges. Watching the characters overcome those challenges made this book what it is - a perfect read that will hold you to the very last page.

Filled with compassion and insight, this story takes you into the lives of four souls who have made mistakes and are wracked with regrets. As always, Barbara Davis creates a world where you become immersed in its intricacy and depth. Ten years have passed since Aiden and Mallory went their separate ways to the glee of his mother, Estelle. Mallory works as a counselor for imperiled youth when an unforeseen tragedy knocks her off her feet and sends her back home to her mother, Helen. Everyone here has secrets and there is beauty and grief as they are discovered and shared. Another gem from Davis.

Every Precious and Fragile Thing, by Barbara Davis, is a heartwarming story while also managing to be heartbreaking all at the same time. In other words: great "women's fiction". It took me a few chapters to get into the story but once I did, I was positively hooked.
At it's heart this is a story about mothers and children and all the misunderstandings we allow to come between us. There's also plenty of relevant romance for you romance lovers. It's simply a beautiful, memorable story that I really enjoyed.

Growing up with a mother who is a death doula, has given Mallory a complicated relationship with death and relationships. When one of her at-risk youths is found murdered, Mallory is forced home to have some ‘downtime’ and come to terms with what she wants her future to look like. But being back home comes with its own challenges, including coming to terms with events from a decade ago and learning to understand her mother more. As she slowly begins to repair her relationship with her mother, secrets long held will start to emerge and may push Mallory over the edge.

What a lovely & sad story all wrapped into one. Told from Mallory’s, Helen’s, & Estelle’s perspectives - Every Precious & Fragile Thing is a complex story about grief and dying. Covering topics from social work, terminal illness, & death both in the past and present, Davis’s writing is beautiful and makes you feel all the things.

I did struggle a bit with Mallory’s fragile personality. She seems unusually naive for a woman of her age, tends to jump to conclusions, and is defensive. She didn’t strike me as a social worker, but she did end up growing on me.

Other than a few slow spots - this story perfectly balances a deep dive into mother-child relationships while simultaneously giving us a beautiful love story.

Every Precious and Fragile Thing is out now! Huge thank you to Lake Union Publishing for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. If you liked this review, please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my:
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