Barbara Davis writes words and they just sing, her writing is so lyrical and heart touching. This was just as good as her other novels like last of the moon girls etc. as someone with a strained relationship with my mom myself I found this to really resonate with me and also give me a different point of view also. A book about closure, love, loss, grief, and moving on.

After only hearing praise for Barbara Davis, I jumped at the chance to read/review this novel. And what a brilliant experience it was!

This is the story of Mallory who travels back home to stay with her mother after a tragedy linked to her job. There’s tension between the two women. Mallory’s ex boyfriend lives next door and their unresolved issues haunt them both.

Heavy themes are discussed with dignity adding such value to the story. The multiple POV worked. I looked forward to each character’s POV (which is rare for me). Beautiful plotting and near perfect pacing had me enamored. I was glad I didn’t know anything about this one going in. The narrative shifted in many directions and I was completely hooked. Avoid spoilers for this one!

This was a lovely read. It is about love, loss, trauma and truly forgiving someone. The first 50% was a slow burn but after that the story truly got me and I couldn’t stop reading until the ending.

It had well developed characters and was told in two peoples perspectives, Some of which were told via letters which I enjoyed reading as we learn about her past. Then, to finish off there were some discussion questions at the end which really got me thinking about what I had read.

My first book by this author me definitely not the last.

Mallory Ward works with at risk teens in Boston, but when one of her clients is found dead, Mallory is asked to take a step back and reevaluate if this is where she’s meant to be. She returns home, to the small town of Little Harbor, where she faces a strained relationship with her mother and confronts the past of a miscarriage and broken engagement from the boy next door, who she fell in love with at the age of fifteen. Mallory’s mom, Helen, is a death doula who cares for the terminally ill. Mallory has always felt that she came in second to Helen’s work, but Helen has been closely holding a multitude of secrets that come to light, upon Mallory’s return home for the summer.

Every Precious and Fragile Thing is an emotional read that follows the POVs of three women in the story. They are all dealing with past regrets and the consequences of long held secrets. Davis does an amazing job of revealing how each woman is dealing with these secrets directly or indirectly. Mallory’s relationship with her mother and the loss of her young love, Aiden, has left emotional scars that have always sent her running from her problems rather than facing them head on. Her forced leave from work takes her back home where she has to face the hard issues that she has been unwilling to resolve over the past 10 years.

Over the course of the story, Helen’s past is revealed through journal entries, and I found I was most sympathetic towards her character. She endured an abusive relationship with her mother, in which religion was used as a weapon, was separated from the person she loved, and faced criticism and gossip because of her work as a death doula. One of the strongest proponents of that gossip, was her next door neighbor, Estelle, who was Aiden’s mother. Estelle worked to sabotage the relationship between Mallory and Aiden, but when faced with a terminal diagnosis, she finds herself leaning on Helen, and finding forgiveness and friendship.

There is a twist revealed later in the story, part of which I had figured out early on, but the other part of it was a surprise. I thought it was done really well, and added another complex layer to the book. Each of the characters had a lot to work through, and even though I was frustrated with their choices, I could see how Davis was using their grief and regrets to lead them into the opportunities for second chances.

Every Precious and Fragile Thing will lead you on a heart-breaking journey through the lives of these characters, but it also offers hope for mending broken relationships and overcoming the regrets of the past, to find happiness in the present and future.

Wow! I wasn’t sure about this one at first. Took me a bit to get into it but when I did I couldn’t stop. The characters were likable and the story flowed well after the several chapters. Ending was pretty bittersweet but the epilogue wrapped it all up.
Thank you to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and Barbara Davis for this arc.

Not my usual genre and not sure why I picked it, however I did enjoy it. The secret is a twist I didn't expect as it was hidden well. The past slowly comes out in many different ways, and people can learn from their mistakes.

This is a love story with an abundance of emotional drama and countless regrets.

Mallory’s heart was broken when her wedding plans took a back seat with Aiden ten years ago in a seaside town near Newport, RI. She now had a challenging job as a social worker in Boston. When she needed to get away, there was only one place to go in the summer of 1999: back to her beautiful childhood home.

Aiden was a concert pianist and just happened to be in town. They bumped into each other and everything felt different this time. Both of their single mothers had a significant influence on their lives.

This book had all sorts of complexities with relationships, careers, health issues and with Mallory, Aiden and their manipulative mothers. Plenty of readers could no doubt relate to some of the hidden secrets and mistakes which they made in the past.

Mallory’s mother, Helen, was a death doula. She said instead of bringing souls into the world like midwives, she helped ease them out. She was one of the most interesting characters with her beliefs in coincidences, signs and affirmations.

The story was well written with lively characters. There was a fair share of unexpected twists. However, the letters by Helen were long-winded. She could have wrapped her thoughts up in a few paragraphs. At the end, there’s a list of discussion questions.

My thanks to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me to read a copy of this book with an expected release date of February 18, 2025.

Thank you, NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for this ARC for review. This was the perfect book to read at the holidays. It’s not a lot all a holiday book, just a family story and what makes a family. Full of family secrets, kept me reading and I read this in one day. I e read 1 Barbara Davis book before, but after reading this second book, I downloaded the rest of the author’s collection to read soon.

The storytelling was unique on this one, with three points of view intertwining but only one of them in first person. I found this a little confusing, because the book opened with the character Mallory in third person, but then switched to first person when the mom character was introduced.
There was a very big twist, that to be honest made me feel a little betrayed. It was not the kind of twist you could anticipate, and it recolored all the earlier chapters in a way that was kind of disorienting. I also found the subject matter a little dark. The mom character is a "death doula" and there are a lot of morbid undertones.
The book was definitely elevated by the prose, which was rich and made some of the more disturbing material easier to swallow. The book held my attention, but I'm just not sure I can say that I liked it. Ms. Davis' last book was so heartwarming, maybe I was just expecting more of that and so was a little disappointed.

This is a touching, emotional story that I adored. These characters will long remain in my heart for quite some time.
The novel is about many things, but I came away with the needed reminder that "each and every moment is precious"and to be fully enveloped.

Helen Ward is a death Doula and works with those who are ending their earthly journey.
Her daughter Mallory is a social worker and though she loves her mother, she never accepted nor understood what Helen's job entailed and why she felt the need to do this type of work. There is a lot of hurt.

There is much to uncover as we read these pages and get caught up in this mother/daughter duo and their lives both past and present day.

Barbara Davis has written a beautiful, detailed novel that invites us to look, read and explore our own values and feeling on an emotional subject that is never easy to face, but definitely a fact that one day we will all be in this spot. How nice it would be to have a friend name Helen Ward to be with us..
Thank you to @NetGalley and to @Lake Union Publishing for this ARC and allowing me to read and provide my own review, 10 stars!!

For social worker Mallory Ward, working with at-risk youth is a calling. But when one of her clients is tragically killed, she finds herself at a crossroads. Despite long-held resentments toward her distant mother, Mallory retreats to her childhood home on the Rhode Island coast to contemplate her future. Instead, she’s confronted by her past, not only in the renewed tensions with her mother but in the unexpected appearance of a familiar face―and the wrenching losses that drove her away a decade ago.

Helen Ward’s home is filled with precious keepsakes from her patients, a testament to decades spent caring for the terminally ill. Her work has always come first, though, leaving little time to connect with her daughter. Over the years, the rift between them has become a chasm, so when Mallory appears unannounced, Helen sees it as an opportunity to repair their broken relationship.

But hidden among Helen’s mementos are the keys to her past…and a terrible secret that threatens to destroy the fragile new trust between them forever.

Loved it. Will recommend to others.

This book is not one I usually go for but as it was the first on available after creating my Net Gallery account and decided to give it a go. Barbara writes beautifully and about powerful emotions related to Family and Forgiveness.
The Helen and Mallory story is very interesting to say the least.

Like I say this is not really something I would go for but for a first read it kept me engaged and to some degree hooked.
A solid 4 stars from me, onto the next one...

Another masterpiece by Barbara Davis. She writes beautiful stories with characters that pull on your heart. I will forever read anything she writes.

4.5

This was a beautiful exploration of motherhood and womanhood how they converge into a dynamic and fraught mother-daughter relationship.

While one of the reveals may come unexpected to many, those who have lived that life could see it from a mile away and it was one of my favorite parts of the book because it was foreshadowed in such a way that constantly had me feeling “wait is this really what I think it is?”

The only reason it’s not a 5 star read is because it becomes a tad convoluted with the addition of a certain element that veers it too far into the soap opera territory.

Overall a beautiful story and one that I personally will always hold dear. It was nice to be seen.

Despite a heart breaking start to young adulthood, Mallory lands the career of her dreams in a big city and thinks she's overcome her past and running away tendencies. Her world comes crashing down when a forced work vacation granted by her boss/bestie leads Mallory back to her home town, facing all the things she left behind.

This was a hard mini summary to write, since Davis takes the book in almost every direction possible genre-wise. There are murder mysteries to solve, police procedural moments to be discussed and an unsettling thriller vibe that parallels with a coming of age story and a second chance romance. All of the components on their own are written very well, making me feel terror or concern or love in just the right spots.

That being said when looking at the work as a whole, all these pieces lead to a very random story. I have to rate it in the middle because although the roller coaster ride was fun for a while, I got sick of it by the end and wondered when I could be let off. If you are a reader looking to shake things up and be constantly surprised, this novel is for you.

Secrets and regrets abound in Barbara Davis’s newest gem.

We meet Mallory, Aiden, Helen, and Estelle - all tied together because of a broken engagement and all with secrets kept from each other.

Mallory is a social worker who had come home because one of her girls was murdered.

Aiden is home because of an accident that ruined his hands and kept him from playing the piano and is so depressed he doesn't even want to compose. His success was over in his mind.

Helen and Estelle are Mallory’s and Aiden’s mothers who never got along.

How will everyone’s life turn out?

EVERY PRECIOUS AND FRAGILE THING will pull you in and pull at your heart strings and have you bonding with the wonderful characters as you rush to the end to see how it all ends.

This book is a heartbreaking, but BEAUTIFUL read that will have you thinking about your life, your decisions, and what you know you should do and should have done long after you turn the last page.

Do not miss Ms. Davis's newest. 5/5

Thank you to the author for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Overall an intriguing book. Love the story line of Mallory and Helen. The plot twist with them was very interesting. Helen is a very interesting character, in fact most of the characters have a good backstory and present and are well rounded.
I was hoping for more of a love story with Mallory and Aiden. Like a big revelation. But it was expected.

Overall decent story, good characters and an ok plot twist.

Thanks NetGalley for the copy.

Talk about getting you into your feelings! This book sucked me in and didn’t let me go. I was so invested in this story. This was about so many relatable things like secrets, forgiveness, and embracing things as they are. Barbara Davis can do no wrong and this is a must read!

Wow! This is a beautifully written heartbreaking book. A truly captivating novel with so many secrets. Love, loss, mother child relationship, complex family dynamics, personal growth, trust and how the past shapes our choices in life.
A story of being there and supporting loved ones with a terminal illness.
Two flawed mothers and the choices they made and how lives can be destroyed with secrets withheld.
A powerful novel.

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to read this emotional, hard to put down novel

This book is heartbreaking and heartmending at the same time. It teaches forgiveness, acceptance and holding on to what we feel is precious. It's a emotional mystery embedded with family drama.