Things We Cannot Keep: Contemporary Southern Literary Fiction for Book Clubs with Family Secrets and Redemption

“Teresa Baker was born into a world in which safety and security were unattainable commodities. But despite the odds stacked against her, she was a fighter with a spirit not easily snuffed out. The day she turned eighteen, she was forced to flee the only home she’d ever known, taking with her little more than the clothes on her back and a souvenir magnet depicting a place she’d only known through her grandmother’s memories. And with that borrowed hope, she set out to make a new life. A better life. Through the kindness of a couple strangers, Tess was able to find the family she’d always craved with good people who put her first. And she built a business from the ground up that inspires people to dust off their old family heirlooms and celebrate the legacies they represent.” But when a mysterious watch arrives at her door addressed to her previous identity, the precarious lives of Teresa Baker and Tess Holcomb collide. “She was entering a fairy world. Apparently, this particular fairy world was a backward realm in which she banded together with her nemesis to solve the mystery of an antique pocket watch…The watch had traveled from the Netherlands, to Germany, back to the Netherlands, on to New York, and now Bowling Green…A mere two hours from the hometown from which she has been running. Tess never asked for any of this. Not the mystery watch. Not a renewed connection with a complicated ex. Not a trip around the world. Things We Cannot Keep is “The story of reuniting a long-lost pocket watch that’s impacted countless lives during a harrowing time in history with the family it originally belonged to. Learning how it’s traveled thousands and thousands of miles. Lived multiple lives.” The story behind the clock and the path it traveled “might be simple and sweet. But despite appearances, life and its accompanying memories were more layered and nuanced than they often appeared. A story doesn’t need to be pain-free to be beautiful.” Tess loves hearing other people’s beautiful family histories, but sometimes she’s so focused on the past that she misses the one beautiful life she’s been given. Things We Cannot Keep is a reminder to chase your own story every now and then. Because you matter. And even in the darkest places, you aren’t ever truly alone. No matter how much time is lost, God can restore. Amanda Cox’s latest novel is timeless, a precious story meant to keep!