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The Life You Left Behind: A breathtaking story of love, loss and happiness from Sunday Times bestseller Debbie Howells by [Debbie Howells]

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Debbie Howells

The Life You Left Behind: A breathtaking story of love, loss and happiness from Sunday Times bestseller Debbie Howells Kindle Edition

by Debbie Howells (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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‘A warm, uplifting story about love and loss . . . but beware, you'll need a big box of tissues!’ Clare Swatman, author of Before We Grow Old

Two strangers.

One missed flight.

It only takes a moment to change a life.

One year ago Casey Cassidy was happy. She had great friends, a wonderful teaching job and a busy life – until with one missed flight, everything changes.

One year later Casey knows what it means to find that once-in-a-lifetime love people dream of. But when Ben leaves, her heart is shattered.

Left facing a year of firsts without him, piecing her life back together seems impossible. But then a friend offers her a home in rural France.

In the solitude and emptiness, Casey needs to come to terms with what’s happened and find a way to move forward. She has no idea where that will take her one year later...

What readers are saying about The Life You Left Behind:

‘A powerful, emotional, and life-affirming story of love and hope’ Rachael Lucas

‘The writing was INCREDIBLE! I’ve never highlighted so many sections of a book before, but there were just so many beautifully written passages that I knew I indeed to save to come back to' Shan _treatyoshelves_

‘Still crying. I do not think any other book touched me so much’ itsallaboutbooksandmacarons

'I really loved this book. It's one I'll never forget’ coffee.break.book.reviews

'That was absolutely beautiful. Heart-breaking but beautiful’ mrsbookburnee

Print length

374 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Boldwood Books
Publication date

23 Feb. 2022
File size

1222 KB
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From the Publisher

the life you left behind, Debbie Howells

Product description

About the Author

Having previously worked as cabin crew, a flying instructor and a wedding florist, Debbie started writing during her busiest summer of weddings.

After self-publishing three women's commercial fiction novels, she wrote The Bones of You, her first psychological thriller. It was a Sunday Times bestseller and picked for the Richard and Judy book club. Three more have been published by Pan Macmillan: The Beauty of The End, The Death of Her and Her Sister's Lie.

Her fifth, The Vow, was published by Avon in 2020 and was a #1 ebook bestseller. Her latest, The Secret, is out now, with her next due in 2023.

More recently, Debbie has returned to writing women's fiction novels, about life, love, friendship and loss - the stuff that happens to all of us. The first of these, The Life You Left Behind is coming in February 2022, published by Boldwood.

Debbie writes full time, inspired by the peacefulness of the countryside she lives in with her partner Martin and Bean the rescued cat.

You can visit her website at www.debbiehowells.co.uk.

Follow her on Instagram @_debbiehowells, on Facebook @debbiehowellswriter or on Twitter @debbie__howells.

--This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09MF3ZKNQ
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Boldwood Books (23 Feb. 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1222 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 374 pages

Best Sellers Rank: 153 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 3 in Death & Grief
- 3 in Death & Bereavement
- 4 in Contemporary

Customer reviews:
1,725 ratings

About the author

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Debbie Howells

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Having previously worked as cabin crew, a flying instructor and a wedding florist, Debbie started writing during her busiest summer of weddings.

After self-publishing three women's commercial fiction novels, she wrote The Bones of You, her first psychological thriller. It was a Sunday Times bestseller and picked for the Richard and Judy book club. Three more have been published by Pan Macmillan: The Beauty of The End, The Death of Her and Her Sister's Lie.

Her fifth, The Vow, was published by Avon in 2020 and was a #1 ebook bestseller. Her latest, The Secret, is out now, with her next due in 2023.

More recently, Debbie has returned to writing women's fiction novels, about life, love, friendship and loss - the stuff that happens to all of us. The first of these, The Life You Left Behind is coming in February 2022, published by Boldwood.

Debbie writes full time, inspired by the peacefulness of the countryside she lives in with her partner Martin and Bean the rescued cat.

You can visit her website at www.debbiehowells.co.uk.

Follow her on Instagram @_debbiehowells, on Facebook @debbiehowellswriter or on Twitter @debbie__howells.

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Customer reviews

5 star		52%
4 star		26%
3 star		12%
2 star		5%
1 star		4%

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Maz

Ok...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 May 2022

Verified Purchase

This is an easy read despite the story matter. I found I didn't particularly want to the main characters; I preferred Ellie.
I also found the eco warrior stuff tedious. I actually agree with a lot of it but it's too in your face for me. I'm also a farmers daughter and the "dissing" of farmers gets on my nerves! Yes the intensive stuff is very bad, but my parents loved their animals, looked after, fed and bedded them down in winter. To say farmers are all bad is naive in the extreme - not all farms are the same.
Anyway, off my stool! I won't read any more by this author.

17 people found this helpful

Helpful

Kamcam

Spoilers

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 May 2022

Verified Purchase

Couldn't finish the book....protagonist is with partner for a few months and when he commits suicide she prevents his family allowance to his ashes and she doesn't even speak to his Mum to let her know he's died?
It's just a really unbelievably selfish main character. Having, like most people, dealt with significant numbers of immediate family losses including the loss of a child, reading that the protagonist in this story didn't tell the mother of her dead husband that he'd died, refused to see or speak to her, and then scattered her dead son's ashes without telling her, while the main character only knew this man and married after a short number of months is actually disgusting and really unbelievably written. Why would we empathise with someone who would do that to a grieving mother? There are even written grief comparisons, like the wife of a few months is a bit like 'of course she's upset I've scattered her sons ashes without telling her, but she didn't tell me he had depression, but I know he had depression. But my grief knowing him less than a year is far more important than the grief of his parents when I literally stole his ashes'. It's actually really gross.

14 people found this helpful

Helpful

Mandy James

A sweet, well-written and poignant read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 24 May 2022

Verified Purchase

A sweet, well-written and poignant read which deals with some very important issues that effect us all. Some on a global level, others on a much more personal level. Debbie Howells is a skilful writer who tells the story of Casey and Ben, cleverly and sensitively weaving in threads of loss, grief, anger and ultimately hope. I found the inclusion of global warming and animal welfare both refreshing and timely and would love to see themes like this in more novels. I try to include some in my own writing, because characters don't live in a vacuum. Readers, I'm sure, would like to experience the journey of the characters to identify with them and experience their worlds. They want to see them as fully rounded people with real feelings - sometimes even those about the important social and political world that they live in. This should be commented on via the ideas, reactions and actions of the storytellers. I identified with many of Ben's feelings and wished he could have found a way to come to terms with the wider situation, like Casey eventually came to do. A very thoughtful and lovely story which I found hard to put down. A well deserved 5*

4 people found this helpful

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Fishing Wife

Beautiful read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 May 2022

Verified Purchase

This book was gentle as well as powerful. Casey and Ben meet and both recognise they are were they should be. Their getting together was lovely ,and the way they were with each other was a joy. Ben was someone who was deep and was hurting with what was happening with the world and his caring was literally killing him. Casey recognised some of it but not all what was happening with Ben and she herself had to go on a journey of survival. Peop!e battle every day with things that can be physical or mental , the physical can mostly be seen but some things can still be covered over. The mental issues of anguish can be more hidden even from the person who is dealing with it.
This book was beautiful and tender in dealing with so many emotions. My heart goes out to people who can possibly recognise their Ben in this book.

2 people found this helpful

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Kate B-S

Underwhelming

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 June 2022

Verified Purchase

The main characters were supposed to be soul mates and so in love but there was no spark in how they were written. I didn't get anything from their story that gave the impression they were head over heels in love.
There wasn't enough background writing about any of the characters. I don't feel like as a reader I knew any of them, aside from their occupations and that Ben wanted to change the world.
The outcome is heartbreaking but the reasoning didn't seem to be researched well enough and was often dropped into the story as what seemed to be an after thought. When it was the main topic of the story it was quite high level and one dimensional.

It definitely highlights a need for everyone to talk about mental health more and seek help and if it helps people in that way then it's served a purpose.

3 people found this helpful

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Gardengnome

A Great Big WOW

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 May 2022

Verified Purchase

This is an incredibly powerful read. Such a beautifully written book. This story covers a year in the life of two people who meet in an airport and their journey together discovering life, love and this wonderful planet that we are all privileged to share and highlights issues relating to animal welfare and the environment. Mental health issues feature strongly and highlight for a greater understanding and tolerance from us all.This has to be the best book in terms of great authorship (if that is even a word) that I have ever read.
I hope my review helps you choose this book as your next read.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Kindle Customer

Heartbreaking

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 March 2022

Verified Purchase

Only two books have ever reduced me to tears and this was one of them. The love story of Casey and Ben is wonderful. The loss that Casey endured is heartbreaking. Debbie Howells has crafted a story that, although sad is, in a way magical. The love of Caseys family and the devotion of her best friend Ellie added true meaning to the story. It truly is an uplifting book and gives a much needed insight into depression suffered by men.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Have tissues ready

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 May 2022

Verified Purchase

Oh my what a beautiful book. So poignant and so true a journey through grief especially through this type of loss. Tears rolling down my face. Thank you for reconnecting me to my purpose as a mental health nurse and to the reality of depression. To those I have experienced being taken from this world way too early because the world became too much, I honour you for the gems you left in my life knowing you however briefly. You will never be forgotten xxx

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The Life You Left Behind: A breathtaking story of love, loss and happiness from Sunday Times bestseller Debbie Howells Kindle Edition

‘A warm, uplifting story about love and loss . . . but beware, you'll need a big box of tissues!’ Clare Swatman, author of Before We Grow Old

From the Publisher

Product description

About the Author

Product details

About the author

Debbie Howells

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