Book Review: Morning in This Broken World by Katrina Kittle

I read Morning in This Broken World by Katrina Kittle a few months ago. It was a book I’d been awaiting, as I’m a huge fan of Kittle’s novels.

It was well worth the wait. And needless to say, a review here is more than overdue here. To be clear: the delay is more a factor of life getting in the way than any reflection of my opinion on the novel – because I loved it.

Synopsis

Morning in This Broken World by Katrina Kittle
Published by Amazon Publishing on September 1, 2023
Genres: Contemporary, Family & Relationships, Fiction, Fiction / Family Life / General, Fiction / Friendship, Fiction / Women, Women's Fiction
Pages: 283
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From the bestselling author of The Kindness of Strangers comes a poignant and life-affirming novel about our connections to the past, and the promise for the future during the least promising of times.

Grieving but feisty widow Vivian Laurent is at a late-in-life crossroads. The man she loved is gone. Their only daughter is estranged and missing. And the assisted-living facility where her husband died is going into quarantine. Living in lockdown with only heartache and memories is something Vivian can't bear. Then comes a saving grace.

Luna, a compassionate nursing assistant and newly separated mother, is facing eviction. Vivian has a plan that could turn their lives around: return to her old home and invite Luna and her two children to move in with her. With the exuberant eleven-year-old Wren in her hot-pink motorized wheelchair and Wren's troubled older brother, Cooper, the new housemates make for an unlikely pandemic pack, weathering the coming storm together.

Now it's time to heal old wounds, make peace with the past, find hope and joy, and discover that the strongest bonds can get anyone through the worst of times.

My Thoughts

At this moment, I’m sitting in my bedroom, currently isolating with Covid. The irony of this is not lost on me, but it feels all the more relevant to write the review now.

When I first picked up Morning in This Broken World, I wasn’t sure HOW I felt about a pandemic setting, as I think I’m still a little traumatized from all of 2020, so let me tell you this: the story isn’t really about the pandemic.

What this book is: gorgeous characterization (something that Kittle is very, very good with), lovely prose that is like a warm hug, and a heartwarming story. I could happily isolate with Vivian’s garden as an escape.

While the setting might be the during the pandemic, that’s not the focus of the story. What this novel shares is themes like found family, unlikely friendships, and forgiveness. It’s about overcoming family trauma. It’s about surviving loss. It’s a quiet, gentle book that is full of emotion, beautifully told.

Do NOT do what I did, though, and read it on a plane. This one gave me ALL the big feels, and maybe an ugly cry, but it was a cathartic ugly cry. Embarrassing? I don’t even care.

I absolutely adored Morning in This Broken World, and I give it five big shiny stars.