Thank you NetGally Arc for allowing me to read this book.

If you like literary fiction about relationships, healing, and faith, this is the book to read.

A women named Rachel Cohen, a career environmentalist who is blindsided when she discovers her husband’s infidelity.
Her husband is a cutting edge cancer researcher, and their teenage daughter, Lauren, is set to graduate high school.
Tragedy strikes when an ambulance arrives at the Meyers’ home, and Lauren is rushed away on a stretcher.

This book was amazing!

This is an enjoyable, slow burn story with themes of family betrayal, healing, faith and spirituality. This story starts with Rachel Cohen's husband betraying her by having an emotional (not sexual) relationship. The hurt and emotions she goes through are raw and she now feels unsure of where they go from here. Rachel escapes to a rental near Boston, near her coworker, Cynthia. Cynthia and her family seem to have a perfect life, until Rachel notices out the window, Cynthia's daughter Lauren being carried away from the home on a stretcher and into an ambulance. From there, they find a connection through an ancient spiritual practice called the “Counting of Omer”. These two families in crisis, go through a process of healing, and find hope and happiness again through community. I had never heard of the “Counting of the Omer” and liked learning about that ritual. The writing and characters were engaging and interesting. If you enjoy literary fiction and family stories that deal with heartbreak and healing, then I'd definitely recommend giving this a try.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and Suzy approved book tours for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own..

a really interesting read that i was so interested to read after i read the blurb. i think the relationship that Rachel's husband has is enough to shatter anyone. the hurt doesn't just not happen when its not Physical. and sometimes it can feel even worse.you certainly felt how Rachel became unsure of it all. when Cynthia is viewed then by Rachel she appears to her to have it all. but as we all should know by now but never seem to learn is that appearance are deceiving when it comes to what other people are going through. and this becomes apparent when next doors daughter is wheeled out on a stretcher.
from there a connection between the two woman forms. and healing in its own way might begin to happen too.
surrounding an ancient spiritual practice we go through what these families are with them and get to read how what comes next shapes them.
Lauren is someone im sure many will be able to connect with. especially how she feels and therefore rebels against what Rachel on the surface only sees as the perfect family setup. for her Lauren just sees this a sort of ever closing trapped feeling. where life isn't that, her certainly doesn't feel like the proper and perfect gleaming life her mother presents to the world.
i felt like i was going on a proper journey with this set of characters. and i loved learning about these different practices id never heard of before. everyone in this book felt like they needed something. or even sometimes someone on their side. feeling like you are lost, adrift and with connection can feel so painful sometimes. but it often turns out if you look around there are people doing it just the same as you, even if for different readings.
i found this book gave me so much time to pause and think. and i really appreciate how sensitivity seemed to go in all age groups in the book and didn't lay blame on the central characters so much as just introduced and then let us ggo through it all with them.
in the end we dont have a neat bow. but this in itself for me felt more real for the point of this story. and it didn't stop me wishing that everyone would find there place, peace and happy from here on in. life isn't always perfect and certainly not when there is things to figure out, and definetely not when the mind is involved and feeling poorly.
i think this is a book that could be one of those that fits all types and could mean something similar but also different to how the person is who comes to read it.