A Life Apart by L. Y. Marlow
Months ago I received this
book as an advance copy and read it, but I forgot to post a review so I reread
it to do my review justice. And guess
what? I liked it just as much, maybe
even more, the second time as I did the first.
When you look at the cover
you might think it’s a Romance novel, all lavender and pretty. But don’t judge a book by it’s cover. This story is anything but simple.
Morris and Agnes find
themselves in a dilemma. She is pregnant
and it’s the early 1940’s. Morris does
the honorable thing and marries Agnes but then immediately enlists in the Navy
to support the impending war. He is sent
to Pearl Harbor , and, well, you know what happens next.
Morris’s life is saved by
someone he doesn’t know. Robert Dobbins
courageously saved many men that Sunday morning and then died himself. Robert Dobbins was black. Morris was white.
When he gets the chance,
Morris visits Robert’s sister Beatrice to pay respects and honor the sacrifice
Robert made so Morris could live. And
Morris falls instantly in love with Beatrice.
Thus begins a lifelong struggle with himself, his family, with Beatrice
and the social morals of the time.
Morris never doesn’t love
Beatrice and he struggles with his double life for the rest of his own. There
are allegiances to family and then there is society. And there is love. There
are wrongs and the struggle to forgive. And there is love.
This is anything but a simple
story. Things just keep happening and I
hesitate to say too much for fear of spoiler alerts. When I read a story I like to know generally
what it is about but I don’t want the whole story told to me. I want to find
out for myself, to be surprised, to gasp or tsk or laugh or cry as the story
unfolds for me.
You would do well
to let this story unfold for you.
I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.
I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.