Bren fall in love with the sea.'s Reviews > When She Returned

“The problem with having a fairy-tale relationship story was how much other people were invested in keeping the fairy tale alive. It wasn’t just our story—it was everyone’s.”
― Lucinda Berry, When She Returned


I have to go with the crowd here. I have read many reviews for this and most people did not seem to love it nor hate it and that is exactly how I feel.

So this book is about Kate who vanished without a trace 12 years ago from a target parking lot. Now, all these years later, Hubs has remarried and has mourned the loss of his former wife.

But guess what? She's back! And apparently she had been with a cult all these years. Kate has escaped, with a new baby in tow, seemingly lost and in emotional chaos. Her return triggers quite a reaction from all her family members from her daughter Abbi who is thrilled to Husband Scott to new wife Meredith.

This book goes back and forth from the here and now to the events leading up to, and beyond, Kate's vanishing.

On one hand, Kate seems to have been a prisoner all these years as her body shows terrible abuse. But Kate is robotic and clearly not able to speak in detail about what happened. She is also full of secrets and her return may not be the happy event her family thought it would be.

I enjoyed this book but only mildly. Part of the issue was the backstory. Again..will agree with ALL the skimmers. There seem to be a large number of GR reviewers who skimmed the backstory and I am one of them. I found it painful, gloomy and besides I wanted to know about the NOW, not the then.

This issue has popped up in so many reviews and I get it. If the whole book had been majority in the here and now, I'd most likely be rating this a five. It was fascinating. But I lost interest whenever it went back to the cult. I've read enough cult stories and it was just to much. I'd have liked more focus on the Kate here with us TODAY. Because I found that Kate fascinating.

I am mixed about Meredith. I get she felt thrown aside but honestly? She was acting jealous from the start and for crying out loud, the woman(Kate) was brutalized. I did not buy Meredith's reasons for acting the way she did. Just because she did not love her first husband is no reason to assume Scott would not welcome back Kate.

I disliked Kate because of just about everything but I also do not think she was mentally sound. Part of the issue is we don't know WHY Kate chose to leave. (Not a spoiler..you find out pretty early that Kate left voluntarily.) But I would have liked to know more about Kate to gain a better understanding of WHY. Not unrealistic though. I have heard that these stories have and do occur..and occur alot.

SPOILERS:

Loved Abbie. She was my favorite character. Loathed Kate at the end. Not surprised by the end either. Sad though. This book was very realistic. I have read about cults, seen films on them and come from a family of Therapists who have worked with them. Kate had severe Stockholm Syndrome but I really would have liked to know about her childhood, her early days with Scott and her current circumstances. I found the subject fascinating, the characters fascinating but the backstory just did not do it for me so I am giving this 3.5 stars.