Book Summary and Reviews of What's Worth Keeping by Kaya Mclaren

Book Summary

In Kaya McLaren's What's Worth Keeping, during one unforgettable summer, three generations of one family receive the best gift of all time: a second chance...

The day her doctor says the one word that no one wants to hear, Amy Bergstrom discovers a secret that her husband of 25 years has been keeping from her. Now that the months of treatment and surgeries are behind her, she escapes her claustrophobic life seeking healing, peace and clarity in an ancient forest in Washington State, a forest that holds memories of her childhood summers.

After dropping off his daughter at Amy's Aunt Rae's horse ranch in the mountains of New Mexico, Officer Paul Bergstrom visits the fixer-upper he had bought years ago as a place to retire with his family. Although it appears fine on the outside, the inside is a disaster―just like his marriage. When he finds himself with more off-duty time than he expected, he lovingly repairs his dream home, building the future he so desperately wants.

Witnessing her mother's health crisis had been terrifying enough, but learning the cause was genetic leaves Carly with the sense that all of her dreams are pointless. With the help of her eccentric great aunt and a Clydesdale named T. Rex, Carly just may find her faith in her future again.

Amy, Paul, and Carly discover that love and family are worth keeping in this powerful, emotional, and hopeful novel.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. Carly is thrown by the possibility of a genetic disease and faced with the decision to test for it. She struggles with the pros and cons of knowing and not knowing. How would you work through a similar decision? How would you help your child through something similar? Do people have the right to live without knowing things that might affect others adversely in the future or, now that there is the ability to know, is there also the obligation to know?
2. At the very end of the book, Paul recalls his brother's future mother-in-law saying that she believes she was married three times—just all to the same man ... that if you hang on long enough, you fall in love again. Has this been the experience of anyone in your book group? ...