Letters to my Husband (aka Surrounded by Water in hardback) by Stephanie Butland

From Goodreads

Elizabeth's world is turned upside down when her husband dies in a tragic drowning accident.

How typical of her kind, generous husband - a respected police officer - to sacrifice his own life saving a complete stranger's.

Or so she thinks.

What exactly was her husband doing at the lake that night? And what if his death isn't the most difficult thing she will have to deal with?

Elizabeth must face the consequences of her husband's actions. As she does so, it seems that the end of Mike's life is only the beginning of his wife truly getting to know him.

My thoughts

A well deserved 9/10 from me for this debut novel. Thanks to NetGalley and the Publishers for a copy of this in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately I didn't get round to reading it before the galley was archived, so reserved a copy from my local Library.

I really enjoyed this story and I couldn't help but have empathy with all of the main characters involved in the main plot. Oh what a tangled web life can turn out to be.

Elizabeth and Mike seemed to have it all, a good solid relationship and the perfect marriage, apart from a child to consolidate their family. The attempts to become pregnant, soon take over the relationship. It must be so frustrating and hard to come to terms with, when so many others around you seem to get pregnant at the drop of a hat.

Elizabeth's life is turned upside down, following the death of Mike as he dies trying to save a young lady one night while walking the dog.

As we read the story which is told in the present with flashbacks to the past and from multiple POV, we see all the pieces falling into place slowly. Elizabeth learns that not only has she to cope with grief, she also has to cope with certain aspects in Mike's life that she wasn't aware of.

How would we cope? If our partner turned out to be someone that we didn't know that well, with secrets that we weren't aware of. I know that I would find it hard to come to terms with and I'm sure that we'd all be devastated if this happened to us, following the loss of a loved one and it just goes to show that we never know all about our partners.

I loved how the characters developed and thought it was a very well written story and I'll definitely be waiting to see what Stephanie Butland comes up with next. Thanks for sharing this story with us. Definitely one not to be missed, please grab a copy soon you'll not be disappointed.