What Could Be Saved
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4.4 • 5 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
'A harrowing tale of the lies of omission and the lies of commission that can break a family apart, What Could Be Saved is a delicious hybrid of mystery, drama, and elegance: rich with detail, lush in language and capable of keeping you on the edge of your seat.' - Jodi Picoult
Rich with mystery and family drama, this compelling novel delves into the extraordinary power of sibling love, rivalry and loyalty.
Laura Preston is a reclusive artist at odds with her older sister Bea as their elegant, formidable mother slowly slides into dementia. When a stranger contacts Laura claiming to be her brother who disappeared forty years earlier when the family lived in Bangkok, Laura ignores Bea's warnings of a scam and flies to Thailand to see if it can be true. But meeting him in person leads to more questions than answers.
Alternating between past and present as all of the secrets are revealed, What Could Be Saved is an unforgettable novel about a family shattered by loss and betrayal, and the beauty that can exist even in the midst of brokenness.
'...a remarkable storyteller, juggling many characters, and the seamless alternating chapters narrated by Laura and a servant from the Preston's house in Bangkok gradually deepen the reader's understanding of the past and present. Schwarz's stellar work is riveting.' - Publisher's Weekly, starred review
'Exquisite and memorable writing' - Lisa See, New York Times bestselling author of The Island of Sea Women
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Schwarz's superb sophomore novel (after The Possible World), an American family's young boy goes missing in Thailand and resurfaces decades later. During the Vietnam War, Robert Preston works as a spy for the U.S. government and moves his family to Bangkok in 1972 under the pretense that he's designing a dam. His resentful wife, Genevieve, begins an affair, and after their youngest child, Philip, disappears, the Prestons return to America with their other two daughters. All except Genevieve assume he's dead, and Genevieve repeatedly returns to search for him. Forty-seven years later, Bea is aghast when her younger sister, Laura, travels to Bangkok in hopes of retrieving Philip, having received an email from a man who claims to have found him. The question of whether the man Laura returns with is their brother remains open for much of the book. The sisters are reluctant to press Philip for details about his disappearance and wonder how to break the news to Genevieve, who now has dementia. Schwarz is a remarkable storyteller, juggling many characters, and the seamless alternating chapters narrated by Laura and a servant from the Preston's house in Bangkok gradually deepen the reader's understanding of the past and present. Schwarz's stellar work is riveting from its start all the way to the final horrifying twist.
Customer Reviews
Beautifully written
An enormously enjoyable book,straddling two cultures
and examining the people who inhabit the ex pat world in Bangkok. It’s also a mystery, a family drama and everything in between. Loved it.