Katherine Center

After the sudden loss of her husband, Libby Moran, falling on hard times, gets an unexpected chance to start over when an estranged aunt offers her a job and a place to live on a goat farm where she and her children discover that country life isn't quite what they expected--but is just what they need. Original.

A Novel

The Lost Husband

Perfect for fans of Jennifer Weiner and Emily Giffin, this tender and heartwarming novel explores the trials of losing what matters most—and how there’s always more than we can imagine left to find. NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE Dear Libby, It occurs to me that you and your two children have been living with your mother for—Dear Lord!—two whole years, and I’m writing to see if you'd like to be rescued. The letter comes out of the blue, and just in time for Libby Moran, who—after the sudden death of her husband, Danny—went to stay with her hypercritical mother. Now her crazy Aunt Jean has offered Libby an escape: a job and a place to live on her farm in the Texas Hill Country. Before she can talk herself out of it, Libby is packing the minivan, grabbing the kids, and hitting the road. Life on Aunt Jean’s goat farm is both more wonderful and more mysterious than Libby could have imagined. Beyond the animals and the strenuous work, there is quiet—deep, country quiet. But there is also a shaggy, gruff (though purportedly handsome, under all that hair) farm manager with a tragic home life, a formerly famous feed-store clerk who claims she can contact Danny “on the other side,” and the eccentric aunt Libby never really knew but who turns out to be exactly what she’s been looking for. And despite everything she’s lost, Libby soon realizes how much more she’s found. She hasn’t just traded one kind of crazy for another: She may actually have found the place to bring her little family—and herself—back to life. Praise for The Lost Husband “A sweet tale about creating the family you need.”—People “A heartwarming novel that explores the trials of losing what matters most.”—USA Today “[Katherine] Center writes endearingly of love and family in her fourth novel, with lessons about loss, gain, standing up for oneself, and accepting that your best is good enough. Fans of well-crafted romantic women’s fiction won’t be disappointed.”—Booklist “A novel about family, love and forgiveness . . . heart-rending and heartwarming.”—Kirkus Reviews

Patricia Nelson

I am officially a Katherine Center fan. :) I've read two of her most recent books and then found out that they were making a movie from this backlist title of hers! I went online to the library and was able to borrow the ebook to read before watching the movie, which is being released to video streaming during this time of Covid-19. I liked this story a lot. There were some predictable parts, but there was enough left unknown that it kept my attention. The story deals with grief in different forms - relationships, family, death, loss, lifestyle, parenting - and does it in a way that makes the reader think about things without taking you out of the story. The author nails it about losing someone in that it is unbelievably hard and horrible, but that over time you realize that the loss just becomes part of your story, and doesn't compete with what happens to you after the loss. It makes you stronger in a way. Great book, looking forward to streaming the movie!

The Lost Husband A Novel

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