WINNER OF THE 2021 AMERICAN BOOK FEST BEST BOOK AWARD
Fans of Caroline Leavitt will relish this rich, complex novel born of
the author's own loss and grief, about how one can overcome tragedy
through bravery and self-discovery.
Cassidy Morgan's life has always followed a carefully laid track: top
education, fulfilling career, and marriage to the love of her life,
Owen. The next logical step was starting a family. But when a late-term
miscarriage threatens to derail everything she's worked so hard for, she
finds herself questioning her identity, particularly what it means to be
a mother. Unable to move past her guilt and shame, she realizes there's
more to fix than a broken heart. Grief illuminates the weaknesses in her
marriage and forces her to deal with her tumultuous relationship with
her own mother.
Cassidy hopes her work as a veterinarian specializing in equine
reproduction will distract her from the pain but instead finds that one
of the cases she's working on shines a spotlight on the memory of her
unborn son. For once in her life, Cassidy is left untethered and
wondering why she wanted to become a mother in the first place.
Then the unexpected happens when Cassidy becomes pregnant again. But the
joy over her baby is tempered by her fear of another loss as well as her
increasingly troubled marriage. Now, she must decide whether to let her
pain hold her back or trust that there's still something to live for.
What We Carry is a thought-provoking response to the author's own
miscarriage and lack of fiction surrounding the topic, that she and
other women in her situation crave.
