A Week of Warm Weather Published by She Writes Press on June 7, 2022 Source: Owned Paperback
Genres: Fiction / Family Life / Marriage & Divorce, Fiction / Literary, Fiction / Psychological, Fiction / Women
Pages: 244
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Format: Paperback
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Tessa Cordelia appears to have it all—a loving husband who’s just opened a dental practice, a beautiful baby girl, a big house in the suburbs, and a large, supportive family. But when her husband's reckless choices resurrect a trauma from her childhood, she must decide which is more costly: keeping his secrets or revealing them. He manipulates Tessa into believing his career and their happiness depend on her silence. She feels like she’s losing her mind. Is her husband's habit so awful? In many ways, he’s an ideal husband; should she let him have this one thing? Determined to maintain the lie that she’s living the perfect life, Tess lies to everyone she knows—except for CeCe, a woman new to the area whom she’s just befriended. But after confiding in her, Tessa learns that CeCe has an explosive secret of her own, and her world is further upended.
A gripping, nuanced exploration of the havoc addiction can wreak on a family, A Week of Warm Weather is the story of a woman who has to figure out how much she is willing to lose in order to find herself.
Review:
A Week of Warm Weather is an emotional novel about addiction and the extremes those traumatized by it in the past will go to keep their lives functional. They believe the lies that the person tells them and tells themselves. Tessa is a dentist’s wife who, after his mother dies, turns to addiction to cope; Tessa’s mother struggled with addiction and left her when she was young. Tessa’s trama has followed her through her life and makes it easy for her to accept that what her husband says and does will change. With two young children, I can not imagine the lengths this woman goes to keep her husband secret, but I do understand it and believe along with her that he will change, that having another baby in the house will wake this man up. In the end, there are no rainbows in this story, no fast redemption, and quick recovery, but there is hope for the one dealing with the realities of life with an addict. Week of Warm Weather is an essential story with hope in its pages that though someone may choose to continue destroying their lives, help is out there for them and themselves. A Week of Warm Weather is a strong debut, and the glimpse into these characters’ lives was honest and raw.
About Lee Bukowski
Lee Bukowski lives with her husband in Reading, Pennsylvania. When she’s not teaching or writing, she loves reading and traveling, especially visiting her grown daughters in Boston and Fort Lauderdale. She’s also a self-proclaimed Billy Joel superfan with a live concert count of forty-three shows. A Week of Warm Weather is her debut novel.
