I recently discovered Jessica Strawser through Tall Poppy Writers, a woman's author collective that does a great job of supporting and promoting female authors, and also connecting with readers. I try to read a range of genres, but one thing I tend to always lean into is a good character-driven story. That's exactly what A Million Reasons Why turned out to be, and I'm so happy I found this gem!
This is a contemporary novel that follows the lives of two women who discover they are half-sisters through a mail-in DNA test. Their lives are vastly different - Caroline a working mom with a busy family life - a husband, three kids, close extended family. And Sela, a divorced single-mom with irreversable kidney failure and a small social support network from whom she struggles to accept help. When this sisterhood is discovered, the truth of the past is revealed to Caroline, immediately complicating her relationship with her parents and making her question everything she thought she knew. Sela, on the other hand, struggles to reconcile the imminent need for a donor (her only chance to survive for her son), with the complexity of emotion around this newfound relationship and what this kind of ask would mean.
The thing that first drew me into this novel was the premise. What does it mean to need help so desperately that your actions will upend another family? What does it mean to help a complete stranger with whom you're only genetically linked, quite possibly jeaporadizing your own life and putting your children's future at risk? And what does it mean if you don't? Before I even started reading, my imagination was ignited with all the what ifs of this scenario. Jessica Strawser dove straight into those questions, weaving a narrative of authentic characters and family dynamics. I felt that I knew these women, that I could have met them at school barbeques or through friends. I understood them, even when their choices would never have matched my own. The human emotions of guilt, responsibility, mama bear protectiveness, and the struggle to forgive all spoke volumes to me.
Another thing I love about a good novel is the kind of surprise that sends shivers down my spine. Those sentences of reveal that are all after-thought realizations of what was coming, what was really happening all along. This novel has that moment. And that's simply all I'll say about that.
A Million Reasons Why is a heartfelt and heartbreaking story of family, love, compassion, and the complexity of giving and receiving. I hope you'll read it.
If you have thoughts on this book or other book recommendations, please comment below!