Featured New Release Of the Week: Only One Life by Ashley Farley

This week we are looking at a generational tale of love, loss, secrets, and a mother’s enduring love for her children. This week, we are looking at Only One Life by Ashley Farley.

Structurally, this book was intriguing. The “normal” structure for these types of books that delve into stories in both past and present is to alternate chapters or sometimes even scenes within a chapter. This book takes a seemingly novel approach to the novel and instead opens in the present, goes back to the past to tell that entire story up to the present day, and then comes back to the present to finish out the overall story. For the story of this particular tale, this structure worked very well indeed – and even within this structure, managed to save some surprises for late in the book.

The tale itself was heartbreaking and yet also full of hope. The struggles that the primary mother and daughter go through are immense, but the ending gets to a happily ever after that manages to leave at least one key plot point resolved yet ready for a sequel, should Ms. Farley choose to pursue it. Overall an excellent tale, my first from this Lake Union author, and yet again not my last. Very much recommended.

And as always, the Goodreads/ Amazon:

Live It. In this tale of love, loss, and recovery, we see a mother, a daughter, and a mother’s undying love for her children. This story was executed very well, if a bit unorthodox in style- in a very good way. Having lived in the Columbia SC region and having friends who lived in Charleston and Beaufort, I can tell you that Farley – a native of the region herself, per her bio -brought the region to life very well, for both better and worse. Overall a truly excellent work, and I look forward to reading more from this author – *maybe* even a sequel here? Very much recommended.