Review: The Lost Hours by Karen White

Piper Mills has lived a life filled with loss. Her parents were killed when she was six years old, so she went to live with her grandparents. She was very close to her Grandfather, with whom she shared her love of horses and her drive to be an Olympic class show jumper.

Her relationship with her Grandmother was not close but Piper never felt the lack of that connection. When she was twelve, her Grandmother developed Alzheimer's disease and was placed in a nursing home. Driven Piper barely noticed her absence as she piled success on top of success, becoming a champion equestrian.

Her world quite literally came crashing down with a fall off of her horse during a competition. Piper was severely injured when the horse fell on her and for the next six years she quit riding, quit trying, quit living.

Until the death of her Grandfather shakes her out of her inertia. Piper comes into possession of some papers and heirlooms of her Grandmother's that, for the first time, spark her interest in learning about her Grandmother's past and make her regret her childish lack of care for the woman who had loved and raised her.

The mystery that Piper begins to unravel will take her into the family of her Grandmother's childhood friend, Lillian. Though she meets them under false pretenses, Piper begins to find the answers that she is looking for as well as the beginnings of her way out of the pain that she has lived with for so long.

The effects of loss, of various kinds, and of the process of grief and healing are at the heart of this powerful novel. It is a story that will remind you that the older generations will not be here forever. Treasure them, learn their stories, spend time with them and value them. All hours that have passed may be lost, but might not be wasted if we spend them wisely.

The Lost Hours made me long for one more day with my own wonderful Grandmother, even one more hour or minute. And I listened to many of her stories. But I know I have forgotten much of what she told me and I would give more than I now possess to hear her voice again.

You can learn more about the author, this book and her other novels at her website.

My thanks to Dorothy at Pump Up Your Book Promotion for sending me this book for review!