Author: Neel Mullick

Neel Mullick, author of Dark Blossom, has his hands in numerous pies. (2019, inside back cover) He champions women entrepreneurs through his foundation in England called Cherie Blair Foundation for Women. Neel has his degrees in Software Engineering (Carnegie Mellon USA) and Business Administration (INSEAD France). He is passionate about creating a society where all are digitally and socially aware. Mullicks organization in Nigeria spearheads this passion, Steering for Greatness Foundation. On the human rights spectrum Mr. Mullick also supports a foundation in Peru that seeks to uplift the quality of life for their domestic workers (Emprendedoras del Hogar) When he is not running across the globe for these projects he is Head of Product and Information Security at a technology based family owned organization in Belgium.

This story opens with one of the main characters, Sam, coming back home from a business trip to learn that his wife and son have been killed in an automobile accident. There seems to be no information about how this accident happened. Naturally, Sam is hurt and angry. As he searches for answers to how this tragedy occurred he begins therapy session to aid with his deep and all encompassing grief. His therapist is a recently divorced woman named Cynthia.

Cynthia endeavors to help Sam come to terms with this sudden and catastrophic loss, but sometimes feels that her sessions are moving back instead of forward. She seeks the aid of one of her dearest friends, James who gives her some much needed advice on how to try to get Sam to open up and move through his grief.

As an aside, Cynthia has a daughter named Lily who is just graduating from high school and about to embark on a bit of travel. She has selected Spain because her mother and her share a love for the architect Gaudi. Her best friend, Joanna, is joining her for the first two weeks of this ten week trip and Cynthia has so hoped that they might take this trip together as mother-daughter. She tries not to show how hurt she is to be left out and hopes that when Lily returns they can patch things up with one another.

Cynthia has been grappling with the actions of her ex-husband, Connor, perpetrated on her and Lily. He was a bitter drunk who was often out of work and beat them both. Cynthia has had a difficult time reasoning why she did not see dynamics of this pattern of abuse sooner and help her daughter earlier. No doubt Lily harbors some ill feelings regarding this volatile situation and has let those feeling create a rift between her and Cynthia.  Cynthia wants to repair that damage and have her daughter love her and confide in her again.

Sam comes to therapy on and off. Cynthia suggests he take a short vacation to help him get on with his life. He eventually does and it seems to help him get a bit of perspective on his dire circumstances.

Will Cynthia be able to get Sam past this hurdle? Will Lily come back with a renewed interest in having a healthy relationship with her mother? Can Cynthia get a handle on all that she is feeling and dealing with?

Looking for a wonderful spring into summer read? I really enjoyed this book and believe you will too.