Ascension of Larks

I can't imagine living a life loving someone who loves you back but whom you can never truly be with. That is the life of Maggie Henry who spent her college years with her best friend Lena and Marco Firelli. A truer friendship none could find anywhere. Maggie was a talented photographer who has been gifted with the opportunity to travel all over the world showing the world what life looked like someplace else. Marco was so much like Maggie, craving the lime light of success as a budding architect who dreamed one day to have it all, a successful self made business and a wife and family. Maggie and Marco were so alike that is seemed natural that they would be a power couple, but soon it dawned on Maggie that Marco wasn't willing to settle for someone so much like himself that they would burn one another out. So he married Lena and broke Maggie's heart.

While he built a family and a business, Maggie stayed gone for as long as it would take for her heart to mend. Unfortunately it never would and soon, she found herself spending more time alone and leaving her truest friends behind. Just as she was about to finish up a photo shoot abroad, Lena calls her to tell her Marco is dead. A tragic accident that has left Lena and her three children all alone. Of course, Maggie heads back to San Juan Island to figure out just what happened and to help manage things for Lena while she struggles with her own grief. Unwilling to admit and acknowledge the death of her husband, Lena spends all her time, baking, canning and creating to keep the present day from dawning on her doorstep. Maggie knew that people needed their own way to grieve and when Lena woke up one morning, said goodbye and walked out the door, Maggie just assumed she was running errands. She never expected for Lena to attempt to take her own life driving her car into a wall hoping to put an end to the pain. Now locked away from her pain in a coma, Maggie works with Ellen, Lena's aunt to help the children deal with their grief not knowing in their mom will come back to them.

Maggie meets Daniel and man that seems intent on keeping watch over the house and family but staying far away. She learns that he is serving out a self penance of sorts as he is the man responsible for Marco's death. He believes he is doomed to spend his life trying to write all the wrongs in his own life and it will take an experience like no other for all of them to find a way back to life and for healing to finally begin. But with so many unanswered questions Maggie isn't sure what is next in her life. She imagined Marco would always be there and now she spends her own solitude dealing with the feelings she had for him and how to resolve it now possibly having to raise three children all on her own. But soon she will learn that there are more secrets to Marco's life than she ever imagined and now she will have to deal with the possibility she could have had the life she might have always dreamed of before it was snuffed out much too soon.

I received The Ascension of Larks by Rachel Linden compliments of Thomas Nelson Publishers and TLC Book Tours. In accordance with the new FTC Guidelines for blogging and endorsements, you should assume that every book reviewed here at Reviews From The Heart was provided to the reviewer by the publisher, media group or the author for free and were received, unless specified otherwise. This is such an exceptional novel once you get past the slow beginning. Trust me, hang in there it is so worth it when the novel picks up speed and gains momentum. I love the legend of the island that helps the family come to terms with their loss. "They were waiting for a sign, you see. They needed to know the soul had come back home and could now rest peacefully. The sign could be anything - a strange bird flying by the window, a whistle of wind that sounded like the deceased persons' voice. They just had to believe it was the sign they had been waiting for. Then they could go on about their lives, assured that their loved one was safely on his or her way to heaven. The sign will always come, you see, the island is full of surprises. Strange and wonderful things can happen here, things you can't explain, things that don't happen anywhere else."

This is so poignant because it deals with so many of those "what if" moments people have when they are suddenly faced with loss, even death. All those things unspoken, undone, and now they live with the regrets of a life of maybe's instead of simply moving on and accepting what is now. A skylark and their call was a song for travelers and weary pilgrims, for those who had lost their way and were longing for a place to rest. This sums up and the characters in this novel for they each needed to find their own way home and find a place to finally rest. I easily give this one a 5 out of 5 stars in my opinion. Such a beautiful and truly heartwarming story of love, loss, regret and healing.

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Ascension of Larks by Rachel Linden 

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