Little Lovely Things

A mother’s chance decision leads to a twist of fate that is every parent’s worst nightmare.

Claire Rawlings, mother of two and medical resident, will not let the troubling signs of an allergic reaction prevent her from making it in for rounds. But when Claire's symptoms overpower her while she's driving into work, her two children in tow, she must pull over. Moments later she wakes up on the floor of a gas station bathroom-her car, and her precious girls have vanished.

The police have no leads and the weight of guilt presses down on Claire as each hour passes with no trace of her girls. All she has to hold on to are her strained marriage, a potentially unreliable witness who emerges days later, and the desperate but unquenchable belief that her daughters are out there somewhere.

Little Lovely Things is the story of a family shattered by an unthinkable tragedy. Played out in multiple narrative voices, the novel explores how the lives of those affected fatefully intersect, and highlights the potential catastrophe of the small decisions we make every day. A mother’s chance decision leads to a twist of fate that is every parent’s worst nightmare.
Claire Rawlings, mother of two and medical resident, will not let the troubling signs of an allergic reaction prevent her from making it in for rounds. But when Claire's symptoms overpower her while she's driving into work, her two children in tow, she must pull over. Moments later she wakes up on the floor of a gas station bathroom-her car, and her precious girls have vanished.

The police have no leads and the weight of guilt presses down on Claire as each hour passes with no trace of her girls. All she has to hold on to are her strained marriage, a potentially unreliable witness who emerges days later, and the desperate but unquenchable belief that her daughters are out there somewhere.

Little Lovely Things is the story of a family shattered by an unthinkable tragedy. Played out in multiple narrative voices, the novel explores how the lives of those affected fatefully intersect, and highlights the potential catastrophe of the small decisions we make every day.


My Review

I had mixed feelings about this book. On one hand I liked it but on the other hand I was disappointed that I did not "love" it. In regards to how thrillers go, this is a book worth picking up and checking out.

What I had issues with is that the beginning of the story started out great. It accomplished what it should have by getting me hooked and wanting to read more. The story is broken out into the "incident", and than, the "aftermath". The "incident" part had me. It was the latter half of the story where it lost some of its luster for me. The intensity I felt had taken several steps backward and moved slowly. I would say that the last third of the story is where it picked up speed again.

While, I felt for Claire; the other characters in this book were fine but I did not have as much of an attachment as I did Claire. This is unfortunate as I wanted and this type of book needs that emotional connection to really make it strong. As I said, I might not have "loved" this book but I would read another one by this author.