Tome Thursday: New Beginning

 

Hello everyone!

 

A little novella for you tonight.

 

I tend to read pretty much anything I can get my hands on, but this one's kind of special.

 

This one returns to the world of Jackson's Bridge!

 

In case you don't remember, that's the fictional community author Angela Day is currently in the process of writing about, and we're headed straight back into it.

 

This is a short story that hasn't officially released yet, but then again it's not exactly connected to the main novels in the way you'd think.

 

It's in the same world, but it isn't about the same characters.

 

We're getting more of the surrounding arcs fleshed out, and I'm here for it!

 

So come along for the ride in New Beginning.

 

Links to previous posts can be found at the bottom of the page, as per usual.

 

The story begins with Molly slamming her car off the road hard enough that she loses consciousness, and local bar owner Joseph puts her into his room so she can recover.

 

Now, while this is a SHORT story, it still packs a huge emotional punch, because immediately from the get go you figrue both these two have something in their past that makes them ... well, wary of the world at large, mostly.

 

But they get along alright, for sure, Molly doesn't really hold with Joseph's surliness, and Joseph slowly starts to unbend from his rigid set of daily rules while she's around.

 

Thing is, however, Molly does need to confront what she'd been running from, and can't just hide in Jackson's Bridge forever.

 

See, she's married. Though currently separated - she has children, but her husband's currently the one with primary custody, who kicked her out of the family home, and it's a whole mess.

 

There's plenty of details that still get conveyed even through the shortness of the novella, which I'll leave for you to find out for yourselves, but the gist of it is: Molly had the babies, then went straight back to work. From her position, she worried about everything, worked overtime to have enough money, while Patrick didn't have to.

 

Patrick, the husband and daddy-o, mind, says it isn't quite so.

 

SHE made the choice to go back to work. SHE didn't ask him if he wanted to be the stay-at-home parent. They never actually had a discussion about it, nor about the fact that he put his career on hold while she was busy building her own, signing the kids up for activities that made them too tired to eat dinner on the daily, was never around, and Patrick felt more like a nanny than a husband.

 

He was there for her, he says, until she was no longer even there to begin with. So while yes, he misses her, he needs to know what she even WANTS - and the kids, meanwhile, need stability, and to know where home is.

 

Which, incidentally, isn't with the parent who's never there in the first place.

 

Molly's shocked and stunned, but they do eventually come to an agreement after they both clear the air between them a little more, and she settles in Jackson's Bridge to help Joseph out with the bar, and potentially a new romance on the horizon with said Joseph, too.

 

Joseph, a retired Marine, who has his own demons to fight, namely in the form of alcohol, a forest fire gone bad that literally sobered him up, and a swathe of guilt so large it's possible to rent a lot on it.

 

All in all, the both of them have demons, but together, they kind of like who they become to fight them, side-by-side!

 

In case it isn't clear yet - I was so very kindly sent an ARC of this short story - my opinions are my own.

But oh, I loved this!

It has a sort of Beauty and the Beast vibe, however what enthralled me the most is that this one again takes a look at hard working women and what happens in their world.

Our heroine doesn't set out to have her life the way it turns out - but her choices inadvertently lead her there nonetheless. Unfortunately, she doesn't master the art of balancing work and home life, and suffers the consequences.

I thought this was beautifully written. Her second chance gives her a second wind and time to have a look at what's what - not to mention the possibility of romance, too!

In a world where so many push for perfection and for women to be powerhouses - nothing wrong with that, mind - it's also important to remember that it's OK if that's not you, either.

Ms Day's writing remains engaging and engrossing, and these short stories are a great way to tide you over until the next big book releases!

 

xx 

*image not mine 

 

Letting Go