REVIEW: Waiting To Begin by Amanda Prowse really struck a cord with me. This book hit me right in the heart. It speaks so eloquently about youth and the profound effect it has on our adult life.

Bess is the main character who made a few mistakes in her youth. It gained her a name and a reputation. Ones that she was not able to forget. Ones she kept hidden from her family and Mario, her husband. Bess had a pretty great relationship with Mario based on true love but built on a secret that she kept hidden from Mario. At the beginning of the book, I didn’t have much interest in young Bess. I read it anyway and came to understand the adult Bess in a much better way. You’ll have to read the book to see how it all works out. I don’t want to ruin it for you but, I know my heart was touched. 

If you like family drama, you’ll love this new novel from Amanda Prowse! I haven’t read a book by her yet that I didn’t love. Waiting to Begin is no exception.

I received a copy of this book from the author/publisher and #Netgalley for a fair and honest review. Thank you! 

SYNOPSIS: From the bestselling author of The Girl in the Corner comes a story that asks: what would you risk for a shot at happiness?

1984. Bessie is a confident sixteen-year-old girl with the world at her feet, dreaming of what life will bring and what she’ll bring to this life. Then everything comes crashing down. Her bright and trusting smile is lost, banished by shame—and a secret she’ll carry with her for the rest of her life.

2021. The last thirty-seven years have not been easy for Bess. At fifty-three she is visibly weary, and her marriage to Mario is in tatters. Watching her son in newlywed bliss—the hope, the trust, the joy—Bess knows it is time to face her own demons, and try to save her relationship. But she’ll have to throw off the burden of shame if she is to honour that sixteen-year-old girl whose dreams lie frozen in time.

Can Bess face her past, finally come clean to Mario, and claim the love she has longed to fully experience all these years?