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Distinguished favourite in the 2023 Independent Press Awards.
For fans of Amy Impellizzeri's Lemongrass Hope and Taylor Jenkins Reid's Maybe In Another Life, that will have you wondering, what if?
Maddie Butler has been haunted for fourteen years. After the suspicious death of a friend when she was twenty-two, Maddie tried to move on, convincing herself there was nothing she could have done. Now in an unfulfilling marriage, she realizes how much the guilt has led to an unhappy life.
When she runs into her ex-boyfriend, the memories come flying back in full force. Burdened with regret and unhappiness, Maddie wonders how her life could have been different. The next morning, she wakes up twenty-six years old and in a completely different life. Her daughters don’t exist, her husband is nowhere to be found, and her friend is still alive, four years after her funeral.
As Maddie navigates this new world, she realizes she is the product of her own unhappiness. But is this new do-over exactly what she needs, even if it means never seeing her daughters again?
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ISBN: 978199025325-6
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Cover Design by Ashely Santoro
Media Featuring The Things We Lost
Booklist - Top Ten Women’s Fiction 2022
CTV News Ottawa - 11 summer reading suggestions from Ottawa At Home's editor-in-chief
Scotia Bank Giller Prize - 2022 Craving CanLit
LitBuzz - The Things We Lost Review
Barnes & Noble - Top Indie Favorite for August and September 2023
Praise for The Things We Lost
“In THE THINGS WE LOST, debut author, Maggie Giles has crafted a page-turning contemporary allegory about the domino effect of our choices and our desires. Book clubs are sure to devour this one, as Maddie Butler’s “Then” and “Now” intertwine and interrupt with unexpected twists and reveals that will have readers contemplating the “What If?” in their own lives as well!”
— Amy Impellizzeri Author of Award-winning Author of Lemongrass Hope
“This intriguing Sliding Doors-style story makes the reader think about how a single decision can change our entire future. Both suspenseful and emotional, THE THINGS WE LOST will keep you turning pages right until the end.”
— Kathleen Barber Author of Are You Sleeping
“The many plot twists and turns will keep readers flipping through the pages at lightning speed. This novel has it all: love, laughter, murder, and hope.”
— Booklist starred review
“Maggie Giles’s debut did not disappoint. THE THINGS WE LOST is a thoughtful look at the choices we make and how one decision can snowball out of control. It’s the perfect clear-off-the-calendar read! Maggie Giles is a delightful new voice and I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next from this talented author.”
— Orly Konig Author of Carousel Beach and founder of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association