This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration.

Accidents of Marriage

What happens when someone you love physically hurts you- even if they never meant to? Does the feelings of sorrow and repentance for the act heal the rift? Or, are some things unable to be repaired?Maddy is a social worker. Maddy is a mother of 3 kids. Maddy is a woman who loves her husband. Maddy is a woman who suffers from emotional abuse from her husband.

Being a social worker- Maddy see the effect of abuse on her clients. She understands how abuse can cause pain and suffering. Maddy, though, may not completely understand how emotional abuse can be just as painful- but she will soon learn. With her marriage to Ben- she is the soother. She takes care of Ben- she manages their married life, the children- all trying to keep Ben on an even keel. It doesn’t always work. Ben yells, breaks things, and is always angry. Ben thinks about his needs only. Ben is a selfish person.

Maddy, in her quest to keep the peace in the house, sometimes takes pills to help her relax. And vows each day will be a good day. One morning, Maddy calls Ben- she’s stranded on the side of the road and wants him to come get her. Ben, late for work, is annoyed. Especially when he realizes that she screwed up and it’s her fault that she is stranded. But he goes to get her- in the rain, in the heavy traffic. As they drive- Ben finds himself increasingly frustrated- and then road rage kicks in.

Then it happens……. The accident.

Ben is basically fine- hurt ribs, scratches- but will heal. Maddy, though, is in serious trouble. Head injury… Coma. Doctors aren’t sure if she will ever wake up. For 22 days, life hangs in a balance- will Maddy live?

When she wakes up- she’s unsure about things. She doesn’t remember the accident- she clings to Ben, thinks that he loves and protects her. When the truth is revealed- that she was hurt by Ben- Maddy begins to evaluate life. And what it means to live with a man who can cause that kind of harm.

 

Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

Thank you Randy Susan Meyers for just writing a book that basically just reached out and stomped all over my heart. Oh my stars- how I loved this book. The tenseness. The different points of view. The lessons. Egads, this book was something else.

Listen, there was no shock about why Maddy was clinging to life- but the way that Randy wrote the early scenes- she set the tension up perfectly. You knew this family was going from a picture-perfect to showing ALL their dysfunctional-ness for anyone to see. And while that was heartbreaking- it was so good!

I loved how Randy got into the mindset of teenage Emma- a girl cracking under the pressure of her family spiraling out of control and knowing that her dad is to blame. Emma just wanted her life to go back to normal- before the accident.

I did want to throw by book when Maddy would worry about Ben after the accident- think he was her protector.

And Ben- I loathed Ben. I hated how he tried to rationalize the accident. How he, after he damaged Maddy, after Maddy began to find out things- that it was only then that he was ready to realize what a selfish person he was. I felt Ben needed to be taken to the woodshed for a good ole beatdown.

This book is going to be the book for book clubs. There will be something for everyone to discuss.

 

*This book was sent to Traveling With T from Atria Books for review consideration. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.

 

Happy Reading and Bookishly Yours,

T @ Traveling With T