Review: 4 out of 5 stars
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 7, 2014
By no means is this a typical romance but it caught my attention based solely on the blurb. Becks’s engaging inaugural foray into story writing is gripping in its very straightforward approach. Based on a true story, I don’t know if it’s the author’s own story or someone else’s, I read this in one sitting. How does anyone, man or woman, know that the person that they’ve married is being honest about themselves? This isn’t an exploration on getting an answer, instead it’s one woman’s story about her marriage and the secrets that shattered it.Telling their story from dating on, A Nave Heart takes a very personal tale and makes it into compelling story telling. Sarah and John have what might look like a loving and good marriage and while it may have started out that way it wasn’t until John’s lies begin to unravel that Sarah’s suspicions began to take hold. Told in first person we get an up-close and intimate look into this marriage.I can’t even begin to imagine being in Sarah’s shoes. The reality of bringing someone into the lives of your children and marrying that person who has promised to love and cherish you for the rest of your life only to find out that it’s all been based on a deception. For Sarah, John lies were demoralizing and ripped away much of her femininity. As he kept making promises she would relent and stay and the cycle went on for years before she was able to rally her self-respect and make the hard choices that needed to be made. There were moments I questioned her actions but I certainly understood them. Everything is so much harder when children are involved and for Sarah that was no different. The need for love is a powerful thing and it can make us do uncharacteristic things.At certain points I would feel a semblance of pity for John but then he would blatantly lie. Maybe it wasn’t even a lie to him just something that he’d hidden for so long that it became his truth. I don’t know but his actions were completely selfish and he certainly should never have involved a wife much less children. My sympathy for him never materialized.This well told story doesn’t have anything to suggest it’s got some great action-based story line, no car chases nor does it have great dramatic sequences. What it does have is a fresh voice that holds nothing back about the behind the door lives of a married couple and the many ups and downs (mostly downs) of their tumultuous relationship. It might leave you thinking about the need for honesty and the negative effects that lies have - it certainly did me.Happy reading folks!Rating: B+*ARC provided by authorReview posted on [...]