Willa Muir has a dark hole in her memory–one year of her life, when she was four years old, is missing. Now in her mid-twenties, Willa is haunted by this lost year catching only glimpses of it in dreams, glimpses that don’t provide answers but only deepen the mystery.
She returns to her home in Rockwall, Texas, to help convert her family home from a funeral home to a bed and breakfast. In part she is returning to seek answers but she is also running from a man who has asked her to marry him. Willa’s missing year torments her and prevents her from making the commitment to him.
This character-driven story seems to move at the pace of a lazy Southern summer afternoon. But this is deceiving, As Willa moves deeper into her search for that missing year, thunderstorms build on the horizons and move in, providing twists and surprises, keeping the reader hooked and turning pages until the final revelations.
Willa keeps peeling back layers of the onion of her life, revealing who she is, who she was, and who she is becoming. Some of the layers hurt, some confuse, some comfort but all lead to a satisfying conclusion.
Mary DeMuth weaves a story of romance, determination, family dysfunction, and God’s ultimate love through characters that are flawed and human, just like the reader. No superheroes here. Just people moving through life, seeking answers as best they can. People who are real. People we care about.
Sounds compelling. Thanks for sharing.