Review: All That We Carried by Erin Bartels

 

About:

The most treacherous terrain is found within

Ten years ago, sisters Olivia and Melanie Greene were on a hiking trip when their parents were in a fatal car accident. They haven't seen each other since the funeral. Olivia coped with the loss by plunging herself into law school, work, and a materialist view of the world--what you see is what you get, and that's all you get. Melanie dropped out of college and developed an online life coaching business around her DIY spirituality--a little of this, a little of that, whatever makes you happy.

Now, at Melanie's insistence (and against Olivia's better judgment), they are embarking on a hike in the Porcupine Mountains of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. In this remote wilderness they'll face their deepest fears, question their most dearly held beliefs, and begin to see that perhaps the best way to move forward is the one way they had never considered.

My Thoughts:

This is a story of two estranged sisters that are traveling through life after a horrible accident that killed their parents and left them both adrift spiritually and emotionally. After not seeing each other for ten years, Melanie (the younger sister) plans a hiking trip with Olivia. Hoping to reconnect and have a better relationship.

The sisters are as different as night and day, not unusual and the differences between them are normal. Olivia as the oldest is the planner, the detail oriented. Melanie tries to see the good and is more forgiving and a little more freer. Neither one of them are strong spiritually, though.  Olivia believes in nothing, no after life, that once their parents died that was it. Melanie wants to make sure she has all the bases covered. She believes in a little bit of everything.

As they journey on their hike I found it almost ironic that they are surrounded with God's beauty in the natural world. Surrounding them and awing them if they would just look up and open their hearts. They have a lot to work through. Forgiveness is the big one.

I have never been on a hike that takes days but the author's excellent descriptions made me picture the beauty and the danger very well. I would have liked a little bit more closure in the end. But as with life, Olivia and Melanie have more to live and their journey to the truth has only begun.

I received a copy of the novel from the publisher. I was not required to post a positive review and all views and opinions are my own.

About the Author:

Erin Bartels is the award-winning author of We Hope for Better Things (2020 Michigan Notable Book, 2020 WFWA Star Award-winner, 2019 Christy Award finalist) and The Words between Us (2020 Christy Award finalist, 2015 WFWA Rising Star Award finalist). Her short story, "This Elegant Ruin," was a finalist in the Saturday Evening Post Great American Fiction Contest in 2014, and her poetry has been published by The Lyric. A publishing professional for 18 years, she is the director of WFWA's annual writers retreat in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She lives in Lansing, Michigan, with her husband, Zachary, and their son. Find her online at www.erinbartels.com.