Book ~ "Walking on Broken Glass" (2010) Christa Allan

From Goodreads ~ Leah Thornton's life, like her "Southern Living" home, has great curb appeal. But a paralyzing encounter with a can of frozen apple juice in the supermarket shatters the facade, forcing her to admit that all is not as it appears. When her best friend gets in Leah 's face about her refusal to deal with her life, Leah is forced to make an agonizing decision. 

Can she sacrifice what she wants to get what she needs? Joy, sadness, and pain converge, testing Leah's commitment to her marriage, her motherhood, and her faith.

Leah is married to Carl, who comes from a rich snobby family.  She self-medicates with alcohol to numb the pain of the death of her six week old daughter, Alyssa, and to allow her to tune out through the nightly sexual advances of Carl.  When her friend, Molly, confronts her about her problem, Leah immediately checks into a 30 day rehab facility.  It was interesting to read Leah's journey through rehab and how she reacts afterwards back home (though it seemed pretty easy considering everything she had going on).

I enjoyed the writing style.  Despite the serious nature of the story (alcoholism and sexual abuse), it was at times funny and sarcastic.  It could have been a lot more depressing that it was.


I liked Leah. We follow her as completes her 30 day stint in rehab and then adapts again to her life, while learning more about herself and growing stronger.  I thought Carl was a spoiled a-hole.  He's not supportive at all.  Leah's dad, Bob, seems nice enough but he is tuned out and flaky.  There are other subplots concerning Molly and Leah's brother, Peter, and dad that I didn't think were necessary considering they weren't fleshed out as much as they could have been.

About halfway through the book, it started getting really religious and Leah started looking to and talking to God.  I'm not religious and had no issue with her having faith but all of a sudden it seemed like it was being rammed down my throat all the time.

I wasn't happy with the ending. ... I can't tell you any more than this without giving it away.  I seriously went, "Huh??!!"  Had the ending been different (if you've read this book, you know what I mean), I would have given this book a 3/5 rather than a 2/5.  This book could have been so much better.