Review: This Much Is True by Katherine A. Sherbrooke

This Much Is True by Katherine A. Sherbrooke

Blurb from Goodreads:

A mother faces an impossible dilemma as her daughter’s future hangs in the balance

On her fifty-eighth birthday, Veronica Harmon feels blessed—with a fulfilling veterinary career, a wonderful marriage and three grown children, her youngest newly engaged and celebrating her first solo art show that very night. But when Veronica meets her daughter’s future in-laws, Ted and Belinda, who’ve flown across the country for the show, she is shocked to recognize Ted from an incident during high school that changed the trajectory of her life. Having never told a soul about that night, Veronica’s past reemerges like a live grenade.

Over the course of a pre-arranged weekend at the Harmon’s home intended to better acquaint the two families, Veronica unearths troubling memories, questions her own recollections and grapples with the impossible. If she quietly welcomes this man as a permanent part of her family she will be forced to live with a devastating lie, but if she reveals their shared history, she will expose her private shame and destroy her daughter’s future. Just when she thinks there is no viable solution, she has an epiphany that flips the script on what it means to be a survivor and the choices that are hers to make.

My Review:

I absolutely loved this author's last book and was excited for this one.  This was so well written - it was an impossible dilemma and I liked the way the narrative unfolded.  The characters had depth and were far from idealized.  The writing, setting and pace were all excellent. Give this a try!!

This Much Is True comes out next week on September 18, 2026, and you can purchase HERE!  

I don't recall most of the towns I lived in as a child, or rather, I remember them only by the name of the one friend I made in each. Like Molly's Town in Iowa. I met Molly at a fair on our second day. I was headed to the Ring Toss when I saw another kid puncture the plastic bag Molly was holding, leaving her with a puddle on her sneakers and a gasping orange fish on the ground. I managed to scoop the floppy thing off the grass, its tail tickling my palms, my hands barely big enough to keep it contained. Molly and I stared at each other wide-eyed, neither of us having any idea what to do next. Where'd you get it, I asked. When she told me, we took off toward the balloon dart game to beg for a new bag. 

I'm embarrassed to admit that I don't remember if the fish lived more than a day after that, but I do remember how it felt to make my first-ever friend. We were immediately inseparable, in school and out. We promised to be friends for life, the kind of sincere promise only little girls can make. And then eight months later-half of a lifetime for a pair of first graders—we moved away. I never saw her again.