L E A V I N G L O N E S O M E

// Leaving Lonesome // Paula Scott // Book Review 4⭐️ //

Happy Publication Day @paulascottauthor and @olivinepublicity! 🎉

Thank you for the gifted copy of Leaving Lonesome, in return for an honest review.

Loss, love and redemption.

1972, John has just returned from Vietnam, having lost his closest friend, reeling from the regret and loss. He arrives at Sutter County, CA with an envelope for his best friends widow. When he arrives at her yard, he struggles to put into words his regret and ends up offering himself up as a Pilot, for her struggling Crop dusting business. How can he tell her his feelings and who he truly is, when it’s his fault her husbands dead?

It was haunting, emotional and full of hope, it made my heart ache but also filled me with love. It touched on such raw aspects of how veterans try to adjust to their home life when back from war. It never truly leaves them, as we see in both of the protagonist Swampy’s brothers, Blue and Billy, aswell as John. I rooted for John and for Swampy to let him in, both struggling to come to terms with how their relationship can proceed with such emotional losses to deal with. It has echoes of Nicholas Sparks writing, but with more tenderness and detail, of first hand experiences, that the writer has endured in her life.