With Love From the Inside  by Angela Pisel – a Review

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Description:
Grace Bradshaw knows the exact minute she will die. On death row for murdering her infant son, her last breath will be taken on February 15 at 12:01 a.m. Eleven years, five months, and twenty-seven days separate her from the last time she heard her precious daughter’s voice and the final moment she’d heard anyone call her Mom. Out of appeals, she can focus on only one thing—reconnecting with her daughter and making sure she knows the truth.
            Secrets lurk behind Sophie Logan’s big house and even bigger bank account. Every day when she kisses her husband good-bye, she worries her fabricated life is about to come crumbling down. No one knows the unforgivable things her mother did to tear her family apart—not her husband, who is a prominent plastic surgeon, or her “synthetic” friends who live in her upscale neighborhood.
            Grace’s looming execution date forces Sophie to revisit the traumatic events that haunted her childhood. When she returns to her hometown, she discovers new evidence about her baby brother William’s death seventeen years ago—proof that might set her mother free but shatter her marriage forever.
            Sophie must quickly decide if her mother is the monster the prosecutor made her out to be or the loving mother she remembers—the one who painted her toenails glittery pink and plastered Post-it notes with inspiring quotes (“100 percent failure rate if you don’t try”) all over Sophie’s bathroom mirror—before their time runs out.

Review:

With Love From the Inside by Angela Pisel is a standalone emotional and at times heartbreaking story line.  Grace Bradshaw has been on death row for 17 years, having been convicted of killing her young son.  Grace writes notes to her daughter in a journal, telling her about her days in prison, things of the past, and how much she misses her.   Grace has not seen her daughter in over 11 years.  Her lawyer has been actively searching for the daughter, as well as trying to find evidence to help her.  With all appeals exhausted, time is of essence, as a political change pushes up the dates for those on death row, and Grace’s execution is coming fast.

Sophie Logan lives a good life, as the wife of a successful surgeon.  She is well known in the community, as she attends functions to support her husband, Thomas.  Sophie has kept a secret from her husband. Being ashamed of the truth, Sophie told him her mother was dead. When she receives a letter from an attorney, and hears an announcement about executions being moved up, and a female child killer is next; Sophie decides to visit the attorney.  She makes the decision to not get involved, since she feels the evidence against her mother is true, and she does not want to ruin her current life.

After fainting, Thomas tells her to get checked out, and in doing so, Sophie discovers she is pregnant.  While talking to the doctor about the fainting, she accidently learns about a condition that might be in her family.   What follows is an exciting heart wrenching story that will have Sophie desperately working with the lawyer to prove her mother’s innocence.  It is an emotional tale of truths being told between a couple that will stand together in love; of a mother and daughter reuniting to love and forgiveness; of a desperate attempt to save a life. 

There are other stories within that have Grace being supportive of some of her female inmates; and of Sophie caring about a young motherless boy with medical problems.  The characters in the book were great, and very likeable.  I will not say too much more, as the last half of the book held my breath. It was a race to the finish that took an emotional toll on the reader.  I understand this is the debut novel for Angela Pisel, and it was very well written.  I look forward to more from this author.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher