This Nearly was Mine by Nancy Farkas Book Review (5/5 Stars)

This Nearly was Mine by Nancy Farkas

Archway Publishing

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Reviewed by Author Holly Newhouse for Eternal Books Reviews

"Full of Raw Emotion and Real Life Experiences...." 5/5 Stars

      To be honest, I don't usually read non-fiction memoirs or books that read like them. With that being said, this one caught my attention right away and kept it as I read the whole book in one sitting. I loved the references the Author uses pertaining to movies, especially having seen them all and loved them all myself. I also love Author Nancy Farkas's use of witty remarks on who should play each character in the movie version of the book.

     The first thing that came to mind was that I really could relate to the character Annie and to some of her experiences and especially, to her educational background. First being an author myself and then because I too went to school in the same field, not for social work but for Marriage and Family Therapy and Victim Traumatization.

     Another thing I noticed was that Annie is a brave and courageous woman who really is much stronger than she realizes or sees herself as being. This is seen throughout the story of the book which Annie herself narrates. It's a story full of raw emotion, joys and sorrows, heartbreak and triumph. There will not be one man or woman who will not be able to relate to this story in one form or another. As someone who is 20 years younger than Annie in the book, I could relate well to the story and to Annie's life experiences. Her story is extremely raw and real life over choices made in her younger years and the acceptance she finally comes to having made those choices.

    This author is extremely well written and writes in such a way that it captivates the reader and keeps them reading until the end and then leaves the reader wanting more of the story. By the time this reviewer finished reading the book, I was unaware that five hours had just flown by in what felt like mere minutes, so engaging is engrossing is this book.

      The story flows nicely and the scenes as well as the characters are easily visualized. The author is right in saying at the beginning of the story that there is plenty of room for character development and she develops the characters in such a way that is completely relate-able and endearing. The characters and story pull you right in to the point where you feel you are living through all of the experiences right along with all of them.

      Being the hopeless romantic that I am, there were parts I expected or hoped maybe would end differently than they did, but in the end, the conclusions were the right ones for Annie and her family and for her deep love for her husband. That in itself is a testament to true love in real life. People come and go out of our lives as they are meant to but life doesn't stop because of it. The author's account of Annie's life is as raw and as true as one can get when baring their soul for the whole world to read through her writing and we can all learn from it too.