The facilitator for this meeting will be LeDon: ledonb@outlook.com.
My review
Kristin Hannah is a master of emotional storytelling, creating vivid characters whose hope, grit, and resilience pull readers in and refuse to let go. Her novels center on strong women who endure loss, fight for meaning, and find the courage to prevail. With more than twenty-four bestselling novels, Hannah has earned her reputation, and The Things We Do for Love (DB116672) stands as one of her most powerful books.
The story follows Angie Malone, newly divorced and emotionally adrift, who returns to her hometown searching for refuge and purpose. As she works to rescue her family’s failing restaurant, Angie carries a deeper, private grief: her lifelong dream of motherhood, which now seems forever out of reach.
Lauren is seventeen and growing up far too fast in a hard scrabble life shaped by neglect and instability. Her mother can’t, or won’t, provide the care she needs, so Lauren leans on grit and ambition instead. She plans to graduate at the top of her class, earn a full college scholarship, and build a secure future with her longtime boyfriend, David. Then everything begins to unravel. The rent hasn’t been paid, eviction looms, and just as Lauren turns to her job for help, she learns her position has been eliminated.
Desperate for work, Lauren applies at the DeSaria family restaurant. Angie senses promise in her and offers her a job. Lauren quickly proves herself hardworking and dependable, and a quiet bond begins to form. Angie, who longs to be a mother, and Lauren, who craves guidance and affection, find in each other what they have both been missing.
Angie takes quiet joy in the small ways she helps Lauren, realizing these are the very things she once imagined doing for a daughter of her own. For Lauren, Angie’s steady care feels like the maternal love she has always wanted. What begins as kindness deepens into a bond that becomes profoundly meaningful to them both.
Then everything changes. Angie and Lauren are forced into a devastating Sophie’s Choice, one with no good outcomes, only lasting consequences. A single decision has the power to scar both of their lives forever.
Through insight and deeply believable dialogue, Kristin Hannah breathes life into Angie and Lauren on every page. The result is a powerful, moving, and unforgettable novel.
You will love Mama, I guarantee it.
Bookshare
The Things We Do for Love can be found on Bookshare at this link:
