This is QUITE a book. Split between Bangkok in the 70s and present day DC, we follow the family of the Prestons who move to Bangkok while the three children are young, and end up moving back to the States a few years after one of the children, the only boy, goes missing. It is a heart-wrenching and often horrifying story. I always love a decade long story, especially a familial drama, and since this is about Americans in Bangkok, as an American who grew up in Bangkok it was right up my alley. The story and characters are multi-layered, and I can see this being a huge hit next year. It's full of suspense, mystery, twists, and interesting sibling relationships. The author clearly spent a lot of time in Bangkok, which I greatly appreciated, and it allowed me to travel to a place that I haven't been in a long time, and hope I can go back to soon.

Thank you to Atria for the ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books about the return of missing people are always fascinating to me. "What Could Be Saved" takes the trope to a new level, with the disappeared returning after forty years. Where has Phillip been? Why didn't he reach out to his family during that time? Oh, such good questions. Will his family ever have answers?

The Preston family was living in Thailand in 1972, where dad Robert was stationed for some mysterious government business. It was supposed to be a one-year posting, but it is moving into the fourth year. Why haven't they gone home?

Then, middle child Phillip vanishes.

In 2019, his younger sister Laura receives a call from a woman in Thailand saying that Phillip is with her and they need to make arrangements for him to live somewhere else. The surviving Prestons have dealt with a number of imposters claiming to be Phillip, and older sister Bea is done with the search. It's been forty years, but after a brief phone conversation, Laura is convinced that this is her brother, and flies to Bangkok to bring him home.

There are so many questions, and even when the possible Phillip is back in the U.S, we are teased with the possibility that we may never learn what happened to child who never came home from Judo class. Liese O'Halloran Schwarz has written a suspenseful family drama that will keep readers eagerly turning pages until the final word.

4.5 stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for granting access to this book in exchange for an honest review!

~~Candace Siegle, Greedy Reader

Switching between past and present, we are drawn into the lives and secrets of the Preston family: Robert, Genevieve and their children Bea, Phillip and Laura. Secrets that stem from the family's time in Cambodia lead to the disappearance of son Phillip and tear the family apart. When Phillip re-appears many years later, Bea and Laura are still struggling to come to terms with his disappearance and the effect this has had on their lives. This book also offers a look at the lives of the ex-pat community in Cambodia in the 1970's as well as the seedy underbelly of the child sex trade in Cambodia.

This book came highly recommended to me and at first I wondered why. It started a little slow and normal but it really became a book I'll think back on.

It's an original premise- it's set in the 60's during the Vietnam War and in the present day. It's about an American family who moves to Bangkok where the father is secretly an intelligence agent. The wealthy family adjusts to life there. One day their only son goes missing and he is never found. In the present day (over half a century later), a man turns up and contacts the two sisters claiming to be the lost brother. The book is told from the point of view of all five family members and some of the household staff. It is a bit hard to follow at times, but it is so original and feels like layer upon layer is wisely crafted as it builds. I am so glad I stuck with it. This book is wholly original, well written, and memorable. Readers of historical fiction and family drama will love it.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy for review.

I loved this sprawling, multigenerational and internationally engaged novel. Fascinating characters and a wonderful use of point of view.

I was intrigued when reading What Could be Saved and I most appreciated learning about the culture in Bangkok, it was fascinating to me! I found parts to be a bit unrealistic, or maybe it is just that I could not relate to the choices made by some of the characters? The dual timelines worked for this novel, as well as the relationship dynamics between the characters. I was impressed with the author’s talent at tying everything together.

I found it difficult to get into What Could Be Saved by Liese O'Halloran Schwarz. I thought long and hard about what the issues were for me and I attribute a large part of it to the current pandemic. The isolation and concerns surrounding Covid 19 made it more difficult for me to concentrate. Books that I could have loved at another time in my life just don't work for me now.

The novel takes place in two time frames, the present in the Washington, D.C. area and Bangkok, Thailand in the 1970's. Laura Preston and her sister Bea have just received an email from someone who claims they have their brother with them. Phillip, their brother, disappeared about 40 years ago in Thailand when he was a child. After short skypes with Phillip, Laura is optimistic that the man she sees is the real Phillip but Bea is not in synch with Laura's hopefulness. Despite Bea's negativity about Phillip being 'found' after 40+ years, Laura packs her bags an heads to Thailand.

Overall the book was slow and overly descriptive for my taste. It dragged at times and I felt like it could have been edited more tightly. The description of the family's time in Thailand and the circumstances of Phillips disappearance were very interesting. Laura's time in Thailand and the pages leading up to it read very slowly for me. I would definitely like to try another of Ms. O'Halloran Schwarz's books and I believe this review is as much related to the pandemic and my reaction to it as it is with the quality of the novel itself.

All it took was positive reviews from Jodi Picoult and Lisa See for this book and I was drawn in. Told in dual timelines, it tracks an ex-pat family in Bangkok in 1972 when the son goes missing and the same family in 2019 when they are contacted by someone claiming to have information about the son.
The book is well written. But as is often the case with a dual timeline, I found the historic story much more compelling than the present day. Schwarz does an excellent job of giving you a sense of time and place in 1972 Thailand. We see the insular ex-pat society, their superior nature (down to assigning the servants English names), the red light districts, the distrust on both sides.
The characters are not easy to connect with. Everyone has secrets and there are multiple betrayals. There are those who heal and those who never do. The family dynamics are caught in a time warp, with the sisters still struggling to relate to each other.
The book is not perfect. It could have been tightened up. It starts slow, but does finish strong.
My thanks to netgalley and Atria Books for an advance copy of this book.

I must say that this will be my favorite book of the year. What Could Be Saved takes place in two-time frames, 1972 and 2019, in Bangkok and Washington, D.C. I have spent many years in Bangkok over three time periods. I was there in 1973. The place's descriptions take me for a walk down a memory lane that is precious to me. I was young, just married, and working as a Peace Corps volunteer. At the first mention of the Siam Intercontinental Hotel, I knew I was home. The narrative was familiar and yet strange. The characters populate a part of Bangkok I was unfamiliar with and with whom I had little interest.

Beyond the geography, the writing pulled me into the story and held me there, captive for every page. The family has moved to Bangkok from Washington for a job where Bob, the father, builds a dam. There are three children, Bea, Laura, and Philip. The parents, Genevieve and Robert Preston move them into a large home with servants and a pool. They attend the American school, but most of the details surround free time and summer when they play games and enjoy the pool. Genevieve (Genny) goes to the Club (American Women's Club) for hair appointments and social lunches with like-minded mothers.

Many sub-plots add to the story with details of the Thai staff who Genny calls by western names. They have two Mercedes cars and a driver who is on call to take Genny and the children to their appointments, lessons, and social outings. The time switch in full swing with Laura, in 2019, tending to a mother with dementia and Laura's continuous mourning the loss of Philip, who disappeared one summer day in the seventies when he was not where he was supposed to be for the driver's pick up.

The missing Philip added more than a surprise and suspense for me as it must be a rare occurrence to have lost an American child in the seventies in Bangkok. The city was full of U.S. military who spent time and money on R & R in the city center. The American presence and the nature of Thai culture made Bangkok one of the safest cities in Southeast Asia. Nonetheless, Philip was gone, and LOS has written a gripping, suspenseful story with surprises around every corner.

The story is well written and gave me much to think about my own time in Thailand during the Vietnam War. I recommend this new book and am eager to read new work by the author.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book to be published on January 12th.

“𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐁𝐞𝐚, 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐦,” 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝. “𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬?”

“𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭,” 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫. “𝐈𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬.”

Take an American family 1972, living in their own private paradise in Bangkok, it’s not long before the threats of the country they are in soil their own perfect little world, unraveling the family for decades to come. What violence lies dormant in one’s own heart, until you are truly tested? Robert Preston has brought his wife Genevieve and their three children (Laura, Bea and Phillip) with him to Thailand while he helps his firm build a dam, with Maxwell Dawson in charge. A dam, she notices, that seems to be taking longer than it should. Missing the comforts of their life back home, they do their best to maintain structure with ballet and riding classes, parties, servants and drivers whose lives are full of hard work and crisis. Noi accompanies the girls, never knowing the joys and freedoms afforded the Preston’s children, her character serves to show the divide between their worlds, as too does the driver. Phillip wants nothing more than to take Judo, but fitting in with the boys isn’t what he expected. Genevieve doesn’t realize that her husband works for American Intelligence, never deeply questioning Robert’s cover story, and her mind is distracted by her own affairs, particularly with his boss. In this illicit affair, she isn’t paying attention, neither of them are, when their son Phillip fails to come home.

Washing DC, 2019 Laura and Bea never knew what really happened to Phillip. Their father has passed away, their mother is declining from dementia, and in the forty years since Phillip’s vanishing there has been no answers. The happy family they had been, the one Laura remembers, feels as real as fantasy. Escaping the world through her art, she is surprised to learn emails she hasn’t checked are from a stranger named Claude Bossert claiming to have found her brother. Immediately she calls her big sister Bea, who tries to convince her to delete it, that it is likely just a scam for money, something they knew all too well about with their mother’s endless quests to find him. Laura wonders if it could be possible, after all this time, with a Skype call she sees the grown man who, she later tells her partner Edward, “looked like daddy.” Bea isn’t as convinced but Laura finds herself on a flight back to Bangkok that will shed light on all the deep, dark secrets, the lies of her parent’s past and the truth about what happened to Phillip. Her partner thinks this is just an excuse to escape his pressing question about their future together, but the past is unsettled, if it is Phillip, it changes everything.

This is a story that proves you can’t remain untouched by the country you live in, that even when you’re trying to make a difference, it’s the things you aren’t protecting against that take you down. Much like the Thai proverb the author shared before the start of the novel, “Bad seven times, good seven times,” so too are the characters within this enthralling tale. Who are the bad guys? There is no end to abuses in Bangkok, adults and children alike, things that would make the devil blush. Justice is a double edged sword, their father is well aware of that. How much do we accept the whole truth, when it mars the beliefs about those we cherish and love most? One thing is certain, what happened to Phillip is nothing like they imagined but will the hard truth change anything, in the end?

A riveting tale about one family’s descent into tragedy that changes their future forever. Yes, read it!

Publication Date: January 12, 2021

Atria Books

Despite its hefty 464-page length, I finished most of this family drama in a single day. The Preston family moved from Washington, DC to Bangkok during the Vietnam War. When they returned home several years later nothing was the same—not in their country and not in their family, because while in Thailand their eight-year-old son had been kidnapped and was now presumed dead. This story opens with that boy’s sister opening an email, a message from Thailand saying, I think I have your brother. Will you come get him? In dual timelines that span 47 years, the story probes the long-held secrets the Preston family members have been keeping, and their devastating consequences. A moving, expansive tale of tragedy and love, resilience and redemption.

Liese O'Halloran Shwarz is a new author for me, and I was really excited to dive into What Could Be Saved!

The story is written as a dual timeline, the first timeline being in 2019 following the Preston family in Washington DC 40 years after their brother Phillip goes missing and is possibly found. The second timeline flashes back to 1972 Bangkok while the family is living there up until the disappearance of Phillip.

I was hooked from the start on the mysterious aspect of the novel. Is it Phillip? What happened to him? Where has he been all this time? But, the novel turned into a much deeper explanation about confronting your past, your trauma, and being able to heal.

The author took the time to really develop all of the characters so you felt invested in each and every one of them. Sometimes, this slowed down the story for me, but by the end I realized how necessary it was as the independent actions and stories of all the characters come together in the end to explain what happened to Phillip and how it happened.

This story was definitely out of my "norm" a little bit, but overall was very enjoyable!

4.5 family drama/sibling stars

This is my first read by this author and I was impressed with her writing style! This seemed long, but the pages flew by as I was immersed in the story and anxious to find out what really happened. Big chunks of this book are set in Thailand and I don’t think I’ve read many books with that setting.

Robert Preston takes his gorgeous wife Genevieve and their three children to Bangkok in the early 1970s so that he can work on building a dam. He says it will be just be for one year, so who could resist that adventure? The family is well cared for with a cadre of servants, a swimming pool, and all the pineapple they can eat. Things are not all paradise however, and a tragedy rocks the family to its core.

The book then alternates with a modern-day storyline and we flash back in time to get the full picture. Now the daughters are in their 50s and Genevieve is having memory issues. When a mystery from the past crops up, Laura heads to Bangkok to see if she can unravel all the family secrets and restore the family.

This one had a stunning conclusion, and I closed the book with a feeling of sadness and relief that things had turned out the way that they did. The author calls it a book about siblings and I definitely see that point, siblings don’t always get along, but strong bonds are formed. The characters are not always likeable in this one, but realistically flawed and this was a great family story.

3.5 rounded to 4 stars

This is my first book by Liese O’Halloran Schwarz. It’s a very hard one for me to rate. There is clearly much to praise, but it really did not impress me as much as I would have liked.

First the good stuff. This author can write! Her prose is wonderful. Much of the story takes place in Thailand, and she brings the reader right into the streets of that country. I learned in the Acknowledgments that Ms. Schwarz began her life in Thailand, which certainly lends credence to her portrayal. I enjoyed learning about the culture there—always a plus when I read a book set in a different country. The story spans decades, another thing I like. Family sagas have become a genre I look forward to reading. The plot is intriguing. There is a mystery to unravel as well as the complicated dynamics amongst the characters. Overall the novel delivers a rich narrative.

Unfortunately, I never fell in love with any of the characters. There are several that I liked, but none I will likely remember for very long. This particular issue is important to me and the reason why the book loses a star in my eyes. It also gets off to a slow start. I realize the cast must have time to develop, but my lack of a favorite character made the slow burn harder for me to get through. Another demerit is that the narrative jumps around a lot in time and the changes are not clearly marked. Sometimes I was unsure as to even what decade we were in.

Overall, this is a very good novel that I suspect many will award 5 stars, but for the personal reasons stated above I have ranked it lower. Considering everything, I do think the book should make Ms. Schwarz proud, and therefore, I am rounding my 3.5 rating up to 4 stars. I do have her novel The Possible World on my TBR list, and l definitely plan to read it. I recommend What Could be Saved for fans of literary fiction, family sagas, and foreign settings.

Many thanks to Net Galley, Ms. Maudee Genao of Atria Books, and Ms. Schwarz for allowing me to read an ARC of the book. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.

Book Review for What Could Be Saved by Liese O'Halloran Schwarz
Full review for this title can be found at: @fyebooks on Instagram!

Put this 5⭐️ Read on your January TBR. An outstanding family drama/mystery set in present and past that fans of Ann Patchett, Claire Lombardo and Mary Beth Keane. The last quarter was especially good.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book. I'll be posting my review on Goodreads and Amazon

What Could Be Saved was not quite like anything I've read before. An American family transfers for a "brief" stint in Thailand, and while there, one of the three children disappears. The storylines slowly unravel throughout the novel, at times maybe a bit too slow for me, but wrap up beautifully in the end. It was gripping, intricate and haunting. A great read.

This story alternates in time and place, from 2019 in Washington, DC and Bangkok, Thailand in the 1970s. A story of a family, a mystery - but more than that, it is a story of how the past might return to haunt us.

In Bangkok, they were a family of five, Laura and Bea, their brother Philip, and their parents Genevieve and Robert Preston. Living in a grandiose home hidden behind walls, and catered to by servants, they socialized for the most part with others like them. Americans bringing their American ways to foreign lands, hoping to maintain their way of life, for themselves, and their children. And, for the most part, they are successful. Until one day when Philip doesn’t return from his judo class, and a search for him reveals no trace, no trails to follow. Eventually, they return to the U.S.

In America, as this story begins in 2019, Laura is an artist in her mid-50’s who receives a message that someone has been trying to reach her. Someone calling about her brother, claiming that they have found Philip. Laura contacts Beatrice to share the news, but Beatrice immediately dismisses this as a hoax, wants nothing to do with it despite some personal information the caller shared. Laura, feeling somehow this will finally reunite their family, flies to Bangkok feeling that she must know the truth, either way.

This story builds slowly then escalates to a tightly wound, distressing and disturbing story about the haunting and destructive ways truths withheld may return to haunt the present, the lengths we are willing to go to for another. All the while, a mystery is unraveling slowly and subtly until an astounding ending.

Pub Date: 21 Jan 2021

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Atria Books

The novel focuses an American family with three children living in Bangkok in the 1960s, when the young son goes missing. Years later, one of the sisters, now in her fifties, thinks she may have found that brother and goes to Thailand to retrieve him. This is just the tip of a novelistic iceberg that spins a complex and profound web of a story (excuse the mixed metaphor).

Schwarz's writing, in a nutshell, is incredible. The novel unfolds in a jumbled chronology that's brilliant and never confusing. The overlapping of past and present is essential to the themes and the unfolding of the plot--which is beautiful, sad, and shocking all at once. The depth and complexity of the array of characters is another wow.

According to NetGalley (whom I thank for an advanced review copy), this book will be released in January 2021. The cover, while lovely, suggests a much lighter read than this is, so be prepared to dive into some very difficult territory--but not without (non-hackneyed) reward.