WHAT REMAINS of LOVE by Suzanne Trauth – Family Saga, Romance, Mystery

Suzanne Trauth’s What Remains of Love begins with the discovery of a family secret.

Siblings Kate and DJ meet with their late father’s lawyer to go over the contents of their father’s will when it is revealed that a woman named Emilie had been added without their knowledge. DJ, an all-business, no-nonsense person, wants to deny the request. Kate wants to fulfill their father’s wishes even though they don’t understand the reason behind it. When they send a letter to Emilie, her daughter replies, stating Emilie has passed away and that she will not accept the money.

Her brother’s curiosity is satisfied, but Kate can’t help but feel there is more to the story, especially given that their father withheld his experiences in the war from them both.

Who was this mysterious woman, and why did their father have such a powerful connection to her? And why did he need to keep their relationship a secret?

While going through her father’s things, she comes across a memoir written by Emilie during the later years of the war. Fans of historical fiction, romance, and books such as Kelly Rimmer’s The Things We Cannot Say will love Suzanne Trauth’s story of love, family, and the passage of time.

Trauth’s novel builds on several subtle layers that beautifully blend to create a profoundly moving story.

The most obvious of these layers is the experience of grief in many forms. After their father passes, Kate and DJ grieve differently from one another. Many times throughout the novel, grief opens opportunities to see the deeper parts of others that are usually hidden, brings family closer, and finds common ground between strangers.

There is also the grief of things had and lost and of life’s what-ifs – that sadness of knowing the past can’t be changed and why things happened the way they did. Through the grief in this story, there is also so much love. The title of this book perfectly fits its message that no matter what happens in life, whether good or bad, love will endure through it all.

What Remains of Love defies simple categories.

One could say it’s a mystery, and readers will turn the pages rabidly like Kate trying to discover what happened to Emilie so long ago. This book is a historical fiction novel with a beautiful love story and a contemporary fiction about a family dealing with life after losing a loved one. Trauth expertly establishes her characters, that they soon feel like they are sitting next to you, telling you the story themselves.

A phenomenal story of life and everlasting love, What Remains of Love will remain with readers long after the last page. Highly recommended.