Secrets She Left Behind (Before the Storm #2)
Diane Chamberlain
One afternoon, single mother Sara Weston says that she's going to the store - and never returns. In her absence, she leaves her teenage son alone with his damaged past and a legacy of secrets.Keith Weston nearly lost his life in an act of arson. He survived - but with devastating physical and emotional scars. Without his mother, he has no one to help him heal, no money, nothing to live for but the medications that numb his pain. Isolated and angry, his hatred has one tight focus: his half sister, Maggie Lockwood.Nineteen-year-old Maggie Lockwood spent a year in prison for the acts that led up to the fire. Now she's back home. But her release cannot free her from the burden of guilt she carries. She grew up with Keith Weston, played with him as a child…and recently learned they share the same father.Now the person Keith despises most is the closest thing he has to family - until Sara returns. If Sara returns….
Publication Year: 2009
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0I have become an avid reader of Diane Chamberlain's books. After reading, "The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes," I was anxious to dive into another book and picked up a copy of, "Before the Storm" at the library. As a warning, this book is a sequel to "Before the Storm," and I would definitely skip reading the reviews if you haven't read the first novel yet.
We rejoin the Lockwood family in this sequel following Maggie's prison sentence for the arson that she committed to a community church. She rejoins society only to be welcomed with great anger from the families of those that were lost or injured and finds it is more difficult to return to society than she could ever imagine. Even simple things like volunteering her time to charity becomes difficult because no one wants to be associated with her. She deals with the guilt for the wrong she has done and is faced with learning to try and love herself again. She is happily surprised when she meets a new girl in town who befriends her and seems to look past her faults. Will this friendship help Maggie love herself again?
In the meantime, Keith, Sara's son, discovers that his mother has disappeared without a trace. He is now left alone with the burns from the fire, the emotional and physical pain that he now has to endure alone, and his anger towards Maggie for what she has done. Abandoned by his mother, he is forced to get help from the Lockwood family to help him survive the day-to-day expenses. Luckily, he meets a girl who makes him feel somewhat whole again and can look past his scars to the person he is.
The plot thickens as Sara's past is told through her eyes, Keith and Maggie finally see each other after her time in jail, Maggie tries to find a way to forgive herself, Keith deals with the abandonment of his mom, and a surprising twist occurs at the end that will take the reader by surprise.
I found this to be a really satisfying read especially since I was so disappointed with the abrupt ending of the first book. I was able to read this in just a few nights and would love for the story of the Lockwoods to continue!
While some sequels can be read without reading the first book, this is one that you really need to read the first book to really get all of the family drama. It is a twisted family tree and reading the first book will provide reference to just how tangled those branches are!
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