I picked up Love and Other Battles, by Tess Woods because I’d heard others rave about it, and I’m really glad I did. It’s a wonderfully warm and inspiring story of mothers, daughters and lovers across three generations. It made me laugh and cry and I even learned a thing or two about parenting teenagers.
I read late into the night and finished this in just a couple of days. It’s hard to put down! The characters absolutely leapt off the page and stayed with me long after I finished the story.
Tess Woods has packed a lot of serious issues into what is, at its heart, a story of romance. Along with her daughter, Jamie, and grand-daughter, CJ, they must face together death, dying and trauma in all its many forms.
Jess James struggles to help her elderly husband who is living with Parkinson’s Disease. It becomes clear as we skip from 1969 to 2014 and various years in between that death and trauma are not events which are confined to the older generations.
Spanning the trauma of the Vietnam War to the bright lights of Nashville, the epidemic of teenage self-harm to the tragedy of incurable illness, Love and Other Battles is the heart-wrenching story of three generations of Australian women, who learn that true love is not always where you seek it.
1969: Free-spirited hippie Jess James has no intention of falling for a soldier … but perhaps some things are not in our power to stop.
1989: Jess’s daughter, Jamie, dreams of a simple life – marriage, children, stability – then she meets a struggling musician and suddenly the future becomes wilder and complex.
2017: When Jamie’s daughter, CJ, brings home trouble in the form of the coolest boy at school, the worlds of these three women turn upside down … and the past returns to haunt them.
Grab a copy from your favourite bookstore or online at:
Book Depository | Dymocks | Amazon (Kindle)
Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher for the purpose of review. This post contains affiliate links.
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