A Life Without Water: a story of love, loss and forgiveness

A Life Without Water by Marci Bolden is the first book in the A Life Without Water trilogy. It is a story of love, loss and forgiveness. Carol Denman divorced her husband, John, over twenty years ago, remarried and never looked back. But on the eve of what would have been their daughter’s 30th birthday, John comes back into her life with a request that threatens the life she has built. Still dealing with the sudden death of her late husband, she soon finds out that John is sick, very sick. While he still can, he wants to make amends, fulfill promises made and make peace within himself before he dies. To do this, he needs Carol’s help. With the past hovering between like a ghost, Carol and John take a road trip that is decades overdue. Carol must confront the past, the pain and the demons she has spent 20 years ignoring. Will she be able to forgive John before it’s too late? Will the healing they both need finally begin? 

A Life Without Water is my second book by Marci Bolden and with the rave reviews I’ve seen, I was excited to read it. It is a story that I found hard to relate to, although I have experienced child loss but not in the same circumstances that Carol and John did. Carol and John are both characters that are hard to like at times. However, their grief and pain felt very real and so palpable that it lept off the page. I tried to put myself in their shoes and wondered, would I have reacted and behaved that same way? My favorite part was late in the book when Carol and John stop by her mother-in-law’s house . It was there that I cried, smiled and laughed. The ending was a nice wrap up to the story and leads into the next book. Overall, I did enjoy the story despite being hard to relate to and I look forward to reading the other two books in the trilogy. I recommend A Life Without Water. 

A Life Without Water is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook.