What Could Be Saved by Liese O'Halloran Schwarz

☆☆☆☆
.ePUB, 466 pages
Expected publication: January 21st 2021 by Atria Books

About the Book:
Washington, DC, 2019: Laura Preston is a reclusive artist at odds with her older sister Bea as their elegant, formidable mother slowly slides into dementia. When a stranger contacts Laura claiming to be her brother who disappeared forty years earlier when the family lived in Bangkok, Laura ignores Bea’s warnings of a scam and flies to Thailand to see if it can be true. But meeting him in person leads to more questions than answers. Bangkok, 1972: Genevieve and Robert Preston live in a beautiful house behind a high wall, raising their three children with the help of a cadre of servants. In these exotic surroundings, Genevieve strives to create a semblance of the life they would have had at home in the US—ballet and riding classes for the children, impeccable dinner parties, a meticulously kept home. But in truth, Robert works for American intelligence, Genevieve finds herself drawn into a passionate affair with her husband’s boss, and their serene household is vulnerable to unseen dangers in a rapidly changing world and a country they don’t really understand. Alternating between past and present as all of the secrets are revealed, What Could Be Saved is an unforgettable novel about a family shattered by loss and betrayal, and the beauty that can exist even in the midst of brokenness.

My Review:

When I started this literary novel, I was hooked from the beginning. The storyline is intriguing, even though it's also sad and shocking at times, and it made me want to keep reading. There are some slow parts but I felt the story flowed nicely. There are many flashback scenes that help us gain a better understanding of the well-developed characters. 

This book is about healing and learning to process your past and how it effects you now. The writing is stunning and overall, I enjoyed this novel and am happy I chose to read it. It's a story of being confronted with your past and learning to deal with it so you can move on. It was slow-moving at times but mostly enjoyable so I recommend reading it simply for the wonderful writing alone. Oh and the phenomenal cover...stunning!

Disclousure:
Thank you NetGalley, Liese O'Halloran Schwarz and Atria Books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an impartial review; all opinions are my own.

#NetGalley