All That We Carried by Erin Bartels
Ten years ago, sisters Olivia and Melanie Greene were on a backcountry hiking trip when their parents were in a fatal car accident. Over the years, they grew apart, each coping with the loss in her own way. Olivia plunged herself into law school, work, and a materialist view of the world–what you see is what you get, and that’s all you get. Melanie dropped out of college and developed an online life-coaching business around her cafeteria-style spirituality–a little of this, a little of that, whatever makes you happy.
Now, at Melanie’s insistence (and against Olivia’s better judgment), they are embarking on a hike in the Porcupine Mountains of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. In this remote wilderness they’ll face their deepest fears, question their most dearly held beliefs, and begin to see that perhaps the best way to move forward is the one way they had never considered.
Michigan Notable Book Award winner Erin Bartels draws from personal experience hiking backcountry trails with her sister to bring you a story about the complexities of grief, faith, and sisterhood.
My Thoughts
This is a story of two sisters, so very different from each other, and they’ve gone their separate ways. Now, after ten years, Melanie wants to rekindle her relationship with Olivia. But Olivia still isn’t ready to forgive Melanie.
They take a hiking trip in the UP of Michigan.
This is a beautiful yet haunting tale.
Pieces come together. Things are revealed.
The sisters continue having disagreements, can they ever reach a point of mutual understanding?
So many deep things here. Pain. Loss. Bitterness. Forgiveness.
A messy story with no easy answers. Yet, in spite of all my unanswered questions, I found it to be heartwarming and thought provoking.
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All-of-a-kind Mom 