What Could Be Saved by Liese O’Halloran Schwarz

What Could Be Saved by Liese O’Halloran Schwarz
Publisher: Atria Books
Release Date: January 12, 2021
Length: 464 pages
Amazon 

{A Bit of Backstory}

Single Sentence Summary

Forty-five years after an 8-year old boy vanishes in Bangkok his sisters face with the possibility that that he may yet be alive.

From the Publisher

“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….”

The Draw

• A dual timeline family drama.
• A lost brother, found after 40+ years.
• Great settings: Bangkok and Washington D.C.

{My Thoughts}

I chose What Could Be Saved as my very first 2021 book because I had a strong feeling that it would be exactly the sort of story that works best for me. I was right! It’s character driven, about family, and uses dual timelines, all favorites of mine.

In this book we meet siblings, Beatrice, Philip, and Laura. In 1963, they’re living the good life in Bangkok as their father works at a questionable job and their mother longs for home. By a twist of fate, no one could have anticipated, Philip one day vanishes and no amount of searching brings him back. In 2019, Laura and Beatrice struggle with their relationship, to each other and the past, even as they get word that their lost brother may truly be found. Laura longs to believe, while Beatrice refuses to.

I loved the complicated sibling relationships in this book, each much more than they first appeared. Many of the perspectives held from their childhoods were wrong, only brought to light with the possibility of Philip’s return. I also appreciated Schwarz’s dive into the many layers of guilt surrounding Philip’s disappearance. Of the two timelines, I generally preferred the one in the present, but both were strong and woven together well. Some sections of the book moved faster than others, yet I was always invested and eager to find out where this story would go. I predict What Could Be Saved will garner many fans!  Grade: A-

“Now or never, she thought. She gathered herself, reached for the door handle. And stepped out into the hot breath of her childhood.”

If you liked this book you might also enjoy:

• The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo – The story four daughters who have front row seats to their parents’ amazing marriage, but as each reaches adulthood she struggles with how truly high the bar has been set. (my review)
• The Expatriates by Janice Y.K. Lee – The story of three American women living in Hong Kong (one whose child has vanished) and how their lives cross paths over and over again.

Note: I received a copy of this book from Atria Books (via NetGalley and in print) in exchange for my honest thoughts. Thank you!