The story of What Could Be Saved is told in two timelines; one of which takes place in Thailand during 1972, and the second is set in the present day in Washington DC. The Robert Preston family has been stationed in Bangkok for four years and Genevieve Preston, wants nothing more than to return home to DC when nine year old Philip is kidnapped. Forty- seven years later, Laura, the youngest of the three Preston children receives an email informing her that Philip is alive and living in Bangkok. Family secrets and betrayals are revealed slowly in this compelling story of a family that may finally be able to leave the past behind and heal.
Unputdownable.
Highly recommended.

What Could Be Saved is difficult to read at times. While it's not a happy book, it does contain happiness. Schwarz transports the reader to 1970s Bangkok---illuminating the stark contrast between the privileged Americans and their Thai servants amid the backdrop of the Vietnam War.

I was so impressed with how well this novel is written. Schwarz has chosen her words carefully, making each one count. Even though it alternates between time periods and point of views, I was never confused. Each character felt necessary and vital to the story. And what a story! It's gut-wrenching at times, utterly devastating. But amid the devastation is hope, and the enduring love of siblings.

Our guiding character is Laura, the youngest Preston sibling, and an artist. The disappearance of her older brother Philip when they were children in Bangkok has defined every aspect of the rest of Laura's life. When she is contacted and told he may have been found, her life is upended once again. The reader is taken back to 1972 when the Preston family relocated to Bangkok for what they were told would be a year. It turned into four plus years.

Secrets abound in the Preston family--building, growing, and snowballing throughout their lives. The reader is privy to secrets the children are unaware of, as well as being enlightened to some secrets along with the characters. This technique kept me turning pages and fully immersed until the end. While several of the characters are unlikable, Schwarz still makes them human--forcing the reader to acknowledge their good qualities along with their flaws.

Go into this one prepared to step back in time and have your heart broken over a lost boy and the steadfast love of sisters.

I received an arc from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This was a very compelling, intense and deeply emotional read about families and the expectations they have on members and what it means to be truly happy. Highly recommend!

What Could Be Saved is the story of an expat family in Thailand whose son goes missing. Over forty years later, his sister gets a call that they have found her brother. This story has a dual timeline that follows multiple characters. Readers will want to keep turning the pages, but also want to savor this great book.

Unfortunately, this book and I could not foster a connection. While the concept of the story was intriguing, I just found the story too long and did not like any of the characters.

Sometime, in the future, I might pick it up again, since I have seen so many favorable reviews about the story.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this story.

DNF at 15%_ - this one felt super slow & I struggled to Connect or care about the characters. This is very character driven so if that's your thing maybe try this

I wasn't expecting this book at all, it was a surprise and I'm so glad I went in without not even knowing what the story was about.

What Could Be Saved its the story of the Preston family, a regular family like any other family, they were living in Bangkok when everything happened their lives was never the same they move to the US but they never were the same, their lives, their family, everything changed so drastically in a matter of hours destroying everything they had built for years, even the marriage of Genevive and Robert was never the same.

After many years living in the US with a new life, Laura receives a phone call that will change her life forever and even the life of the rest of the family. no matter the years that had passed, this phone call will change everything in an instant just like in the past let us hope this time is for new hope.

Laura and Bea are taking care of their mother Genevive, she is no longer in her five senses, she constantly forgets people and even in what day she is living on but still, somehow I feel like she knows things even if she didn't want to show it, maybe as a way of couping she preferer to live in the shadows than in the light.

What Could Be Saves alternates from past to present showing us what really happened that night, when they were living in Bangkok all the lies and betrays that lead to the worst nightmare the Preston had ever lived and still hunting them to the present moment, never knowing what happened to Phillip and always having hope to find him.

This wasn't an easy book to ready, there were so many situations that really will bring you to tears especially in the last chapters of the book when we finally get to hear the story of Phillip, I cry so much for him but at the same time I cried for many of the children that constantly live this inferno and never have a good ending and the worst part was that he didn't deserve to live that, just because of an evil person who had so much hatred in her heart and was seeking vengeance at all cost. it was terrible and very sad... this only shows how human beings can be so vengeful without caring who they hurt in the middle.

I wanted to help him and shield him while I was reading his story and the most amazing thing was his attitude to the world, he was really a teacher for many of us, even to his sisters that kept wanting revenge, he was on another plane now, he didn't need that anymore, he just needed peace and love.

What Could Be Saved is the story of a family who was very closed and that life and circumstances broke them apart internally and emotionally, we get to see the flaws of the Preston like any other regular family but in the end we finally see how they recover the missing pieces, holding them together with love and understanding trying to finally rebuild their family once more.. this only shows us that life has many episodes and that nothing is permanent or forever, our problems and situations will eventually change and be solve just like this family that at the end was able to finally put peace in their hearts and mind after many years of being lost.

Overall it was a great story get ready to cry and feel everything like you were experiencing this, it is beautiful breathtaking and at the same time painful but realistic and hopeful. I really recommend this book.

“What Could Be Saved” by Liese O’Halloran Schwarz is about a young American family living in Bangkok during the 1970s. After about four years as expatriates, something goes horribly wrong and the middle child, Patrick, is abducted. From the time he’s age 8 until he's in his mid 50’s, no one knows whether he’s dead or alive.

That is, until one day in 2019, when his younger sister, Laura, gets an email saying that Patrick is alive. Unsure if it’s really him, she sets out on a mission to bring him back home. And then all of the memories and details of their life in Thailand come back.

The story is told in third person so we know much more than Laura or her sister do. We see the lies and deception and betrayal. Things their parents keep from them. And then we finally understand what happens to Philip and how his disappearance rocks the family for decades.

While this novel is a mystery, it’s much more about family dynamics. The sibling rivalry. The self-absorbed parents. The burdens carried. The tiptoeing around one another. The looking for approval and praise of others. The caretaking. Each sibling—Laura, Patrick and their older sister, Bea—have always played their roles. And all of them have a hard time with the truth.

At nearly 450 pages, there are so many details and layers of this story that it was a bit too much for me. Much of the writing was fantastic, but there was just too much. I needed less tangents, less stories within the stories. I much preferred the present day storyline (circa 2019) than the ones from the past (told in 1972). It was interesting, but by about two-thirds through, I just wanted to find out what happened and be done with it.

Special thanks to Atria Book for the advanced copy of book, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review. I also purchased the audiobook to listen to while reading the ebook. The narrator, Lisa Flanagan, did an excellent job!

What Could Be Saved by Liese O' Halloran Schwarz is told in dual timelines between the early 70s in Bangkok and in 2019 in Washington, DC. It's a story of a family in crisis and the fallout of a tragedy.

This book is beautifully written, and I can see why so many love this book. My only small criticism is that I wonder if the Thai people and culture are fully realized in this book. Or, if they are moreso used to advance the narrative of a missing boy and a family in turmoil.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.

Looks like I’m in the minority with this book, but unfortunately I really didn’t like it. I hate to say anything negative, but for some reason I was unable to connect to the characters, the multiple story lines, and the plot. It read really slow for me and I felt like I was pushing through to get to the end with hopes my experience would change, but sadly it did not.  

I keep hearing wonderful things about this book, so maybe it was just me... My mindset can certainly play a part in how I experience a book and that may have been the case with this one.  If What Could Be Saved is on your list, I hope you enjoy it! 

Thank you to @AtriaBooks and @NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.  What Could Be Saved publishes on 1/12/21

This novel is about a family between the 1970s and 2019 first living in Thailand for work. The descriptions of Thailand and the people therein were vivid - I could feel the heat and humidity and rain. The characters are complex and relateable in many ways. The plot line is tragic as a family searches for a family member and themselves, eventually accepting each other and even themselves.

My rating is 3 stars. I felt the book was too long - the sisters’ strained relationship was confusing and unnecessary. I found them both unlikeable and I didn’t understand the source for explaining those traits. The family mystery is solved quickly at the end of the book in a way that felt forced and unworthy of the time it took to arrive at that point.

This book would be great for a book discussion group as it has plot elements that include family, regret, choices, all within the shining character in the novel, Bangkok.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria publishing for providing the book for an honest review. I’m
Grateful.

I enjoyed the setting of this novel, in the insular world of the expat community in Bangkok in the early 70’s. Halloran does such a good job describing the smells and sights of the city, and the tensions where it rubs up against the wealthy American community. She seems to understand that tension both from the perspective of the Thai servants and their American employers.

I was frustrated by the lack of development of some of the characters, and confused by some of the timeline switches, but the book finished strong as we began to understand what really took place and how it affected the family.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I completely loved this book. WHAT COULD BE SAVED is a sweeping family story of loss, restoration, fate, and secrets. When Laura and Bea's brother, Philip, reappears after a 47-year absence, they all have to reckon with their stories and what secrets they all kept. This book spans two continents and almost five decades, delving into each family member's past and present in a way that is utterly absorbing. I couldn't get enough of this book and was sad for it to end.

An epic story of all types of family relationships. I could not stop reading this book. I needed to know what happened next and I loved the characters so much. Not that they were perfect and wonderful, but that I found them real and relatable. Really hard things happen, but in the end it is a beautiful story of a family that goes through something so difficult and how the children come into their own.

This book kept me guessing. What happened to Phillip? Is this man really him? What does Genevieve remember? Will Bea and Laura ever make up? The alternating time lines were sometimes frustrating - but effective in keeping the reader engaged. The characters are realistic and the story unique enough to be compelling. The writing is very good - almost poetic sometimes in descriptions. It's a complex - but rewarding - read.

This is a wondrous, near-perfect book that I will recommend widely, will surely read again, and -- the highest praise that I can give a book -- will buy some spare copies to share with my pickiest-reader friends.

What Could Be Saved touches all the bases: memorable settings; illuminating dialogue; stunted family dynamics; characters who are heartbreakingly real in their poignancy, and a profound illustration of how geopolitics affects everyday people, in widening ripples across cultures.

From 1968 to 1972, the Preston family lived as expatriates in a world that more closely resembled the 1950s. They were launched by tragedy into late-20th-Century chaos, which perhaps none of them fully survived.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advance readers copy.

Drama, suspense, twists and turns! This book kept me on my toes as I tried to figure out what would happen. If you like family drama, multiple perspectives, and great settings, this book is for you!

The Preston family was never what they thought they were. As all five members of the family changed, grew, disappeared, and came back, they all kept trying to define themselves and their relationships to the world, but how much was really true, and how much was just what they tried to prove to everyone else?

The Preston family could have been anyone. One year in Thailand sounded like an adventure for Genevieve and the three kids, while Robert built a dam. But the one year turned into two, then three, and they were all restless. How long did a dam take to build? Genevieve wanted to stop playing hostess to all the new Americans living in Thailand. Then suddenly they’re on their way home, because their son has disappeared, and she travels back to Thailand over and over, looking for the boy she hasn’t seen since he was 8 years old.

Decades later, Genevieve’s grasp with reality is tenuous as she slips into dementia. She’s followed leads that she hoped would lead to her son Philip again and again, but nothing has brought him back to her so far. Now she doesn’t look for him, but a woman has reached out to Philip’s youngest sister Laura to say that Philip is an adult with nowhere to go in Thailand.

In the process of alternating between 1972 and 2019 (with a little 1980 thrown in), this book also gave us differing viewpoints of the lives of the Prestons. Who Genevieve was in 1972 couldn’t have done anything different, and everything that happened in Thailand changed the whole relationship of Laura and oldest sister Bea, even when neither of them realized it. The most remarkable character of all was Philip, and his sense of peace with everything that had happened in the life that was never planned for him. Bringing him back into the fold really helped share that sense of peace (and sometimes clarity) with the rest of the remaining family.

Overall, this was a remarkable book, beautifully told. The author’s background info states that she as well spent part of her childhood in Thailand, and the sincerity and childhood impressions of that experience really come through. I’d give this book 5 out of 5 stars and will definitely seek out the author’s previous books. While I’d never call this a fast read, I would enthusiastically recommend it to those who enjoy literary fiction and stories about family relationships.

This was a character driven family drama that follows the Preston Family on two timelines: 1972, when they lived in Bangkok and eight-year-old Philip goes missing, and 2019 when they learn Philip may still be alive. I found the 1972 storyline in Thailand particularly compelling; the descriptions were wonderful and it was interesting to learn about how the ex-pat community operated. There was an underlying tension in both timelines, as each family member (particularly sisters Bea and Laura) dealt with the impact of the loss of Philip. This created a strong build up to the ending, where we finally find out what happened.

As a true crime obsessed person, I knew this book would have my attention from the minute I read the description. From the way the book started off, I was expecting there to be more of an Imposter situation but it really didn’t go that way which I think was good overall. There were elements of mystery and doubt which added depth to the story.

I recommend this if you enjoy family sagas and literary fiction!
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This is a complex and distressing family saga that toggles between past and present. At first glance, the story appears to be about a family torn apart by a child, a sibling that has gone missing, but there are deep undercurrents here not to be missed.

It’s 1972 and the Preston family has been living in Thailand, sent here from America for Robert’s covert job.
Genevieve tries to make her three children feel as comfortable as possible in this foreign land; always busy with lessons and surrounded by people. But Genevieve gets caught up in an affair. Then their son Philip goes missing and they must return to the States without him. As time passes, the family continues to bury themselves with more lies and deception until 2019 when Philip is found.

This was a meandering read. I preferred the timeline that sent us back to Thailand in 1972. The atmosphere was rich, diverse, and turbulent with the Vietnam War raging. We heard not just the family’s POV, but also from a servant girl, Noi, which helped to make it vivid and realistic.

In the present timeline, we see the fall out of this traumatic experience. As Laura, the youngest sister goes to Thailand to bring a man claiming to be Philip home, the tension between the two sisters grows. And though Genevieve is now suffering from dementia, what secrets has she kept all these years?

This has a heartbreaking ending as the mystery is finally disclosed, but it wasn’t a complete shock to me. little breadcrumbs are dropped along the way. Liese O’Halloran Schwarz’s writing is engrossing, so be ready to spend time absorbed in this story.

**This book is not graphic but it does speak of something that may be a trigger for some. (Besides a missing child, adultery, and dementia). I don’t want it to be a spoiler so if you have concerns, please DM me.

Thank you to @atriabooks and @netgalley for this digital ARC. This book is available today!