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Losing the Moon
Amy Reynolds is stunned when her first, great love suddenly reappears. A happily married mother of two, she wants nothing to do with him. But then-needing to know why he was ripped from her life without explanation-Amy becomes obsessed with the idea that maybe they really were meant to be together...
384 pages, Paperback
First published May 4, 2004
301 people are currently reading
1946 people want to read
About the author
Patti Callahan Henry
38 books6,586 followersPatti Callahan Henry is a New York Times, Globe and Mail, and USA Today bestselling author of sixteen novels, including her newest, The Secret Book of Flora Lea. She’s also a podcast host of original content for her novels, Surviving Savannah and Becoming Mrs. Lewis.
She is the recipient of The Christy Award “Book of the Year”; The Harper Lee Distinguished Writer of the Year and the Alabama Library Association Book of the Year for Becoming Mrs. Lewis. She is the co-host and co-creator of the popular weekly online Friends and Fiction live web show and podcast. Patti also was a contributor to the monthly life lesson essay column for Parade Magazine. She’s published in numerous anthologies, articles, and short story collections, including an Audible Original about Florence Nightingale, titled Wild Swan narrated by the Tony Award winner, Cynthia Erivo.
A full-time author, mother of three, and grandmother of two, she lives in Mountain Brook, Alabama with her husband, Pat Henry.
She is the recipient of The Christy Award “Book of the Year”; The Harper Lee Distinguished Writer of the Year and the Alabama Library Association Book of the Year for Becoming Mrs. Lewis. She is the co-host and co-creator of the popular weekly online Friends and Fiction live web show and podcast. Patti also was a contributor to the monthly life lesson essay column for Parade Magazine. She’s published in numerous anthologies, articles, and short story collections, including an Audible Original about Florence Nightingale, titled Wild Swan narrated by the Tony Award winner, Cynthia Erivo.
A full-time author, mother of three, and grandmother of two, she lives in Mountain Brook, Alabama with her husband, Pat Henry.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 190 reviews
December 10, 2010
Books like this should come with a WARNING: Bittersweet ending...prepare to cry your eyes out in the epilogue and then feel like sh*t afterwards when you realize there isn't one more page to make it all better.
February 2, 2011
Patti Callahan Henry’s book snuck up on me. I wasn’t overly impressed with her writing when I started the book and I can’t say that I fell in love with the characters or the secondary story (of the main character’s quest to preserve an island off Georgia’s coast) and yet, I finished the book with a lump in my throat.
Amy is happily married to Phil. Her kids, Jack and Molly, are grown; Jack is actually away at college and Molly in her last year of high school. Her world, however, is about to be turned upside down when Jack invites her to the homecoming football game to meet his new girlfriend and her parents. Turns out, the girlfriend’s father, Nick, is Amy’s old college boyfriend. Suddenly Amy’s world turns upside down. Her feelings for Nick (and as it turns out, Nick’s feelings for her) are complicated because of the way their relationship ended. And as Amy starts to question her feelings for her husband and her role as wife and mother, she starts orbiting ever closer to the girl she once was and the way she felt about Nick.
A lot of what happens in Losing the Moon is predictable (although Amy herself might use the word inevitable). The story tracks Amy’s feelings, but also Nick’s. While I wasn’t rooting for any particular outcome, I have to admit to feeling incredibly sorry for both Amy and Nick by the end of their story – even though Henry did a plausible job of explaining Amy’s choices.
I related to this book on quite a few levels- perhaps because I am around the same age as Amy. Her questions (as she cleans her house again) about her place in the world, about her dreams, about her role in her marriage all rang true to me. Is this what I wanted for my life? Who hasn’t asked that on occasion?
And of course Nick is a painful reminder of what she has left behind-not just the loss of his love, but the loss of her youth as well. A conversation she has with her daughter about the passage of time nearly had me bawling.
So, yeah, good book.
Amy is happily married to Phil. Her kids, Jack and Molly, are grown; Jack is actually away at college and Molly in her last year of high school. Her world, however, is about to be turned upside down when Jack invites her to the homecoming football game to meet his new girlfriend and her parents. Turns out, the girlfriend’s father, Nick, is Amy’s old college boyfriend. Suddenly Amy’s world turns upside down. Her feelings for Nick (and as it turns out, Nick’s feelings for her) are complicated because of the way their relationship ended. And as Amy starts to question her feelings for her husband and her role as wife and mother, she starts orbiting ever closer to the girl she once was and the way she felt about Nick.
A lot of what happens in Losing the Moon is predictable (although Amy herself might use the word inevitable). The story tracks Amy’s feelings, but also Nick’s. While I wasn’t rooting for any particular outcome, I have to admit to feeling incredibly sorry for both Amy and Nick by the end of their story – even though Henry did a plausible job of explaining Amy’s choices.
I related to this book on quite a few levels- perhaps because I am around the same age as Amy. Her questions (as she cleans her house again) about her place in the world, about her dreams, about her role in her marriage all rang true to me. Is this what I wanted for my life? Who hasn’t asked that on occasion?
And of course Nick is a painful reminder of what she has left behind-not just the loss of his love, but the loss of her youth as well. A conversation she has with her daughter about the passage of time nearly had me bawling.
So, yeah, good book.
October 7, 2019
This books begs the question: Who or what is my compass? We are all lead by something or someone -- that thing that defines us or inspires us, brings encouragement and light to our life. For anyone ever lost in the woods or wilderness, the sun and even the moon can be your compass. When the sky is nothing but a black canvas there is still always the moon to shine down that glimmer of hope and salvation that someone, something is watching over you.
Amy and Nick were college students, soul mates, lovers and a beacon to each other showing the way to the future and a life of fulfilled dreams. Nick goes to Costa Rica for a short 3-month class excursion but never comes back. When the rest of the class returns without Nick, no one offers any explanation other than he stayed behind. Amy is left to wonder what happened to the silent but understood vow they made to each other. What could have happened that would have caused him to change course in his life goals? All of her efforts to uncover the truth are met with dead ends and she is left with a life of unanswered questions.
After weeks and months of looking for answers and explanations and none appearing, Amy returns to her home town blanketed in despair and depression. Over time she develops a relationship with a long-lost friend from her high school days and soon they are married and begin a family -- one son and one daughter. Twenty five years later her world will fall apart.
Nick finally returns from Costa Rica with a woman by his side -- a rich woman with a forceful personality who is used to getting what she wants. They eventually marry and start a family --- one daughter and two sons. Twenty five years later his world will fall apart.
Two college students fall in love. Each are speaking of a life-long commitment and feel it is time to have their parents meet. What would be a better setting than one of their college football games and tailgating party? Amy and her husband arrive anxious to meet not only the girl who has won their son's heart but the parents who raised her. Nick and his wife arrive looking forward to meeting the young man who makes their daughter's face light up and the parents who raised him.
Twenty five years vanish just like that. It was as if the sky turned the darkest shade of black and a dense cloud has even covered the light from the moon. Present and past emotions are colliding at an accelerating rate and a crash is imminent. Who will be first to break the silence?
How do you find your way when the needle on your compass has disappeared? How do you find your path forward when even the light of the moon is lost to you? Whose heart can you trust to help you find your true North? And when the sun finally rises, who and what will you find has been destroyed in the dark of night?
This was a very thought provoking story of choosing the right fork in the road to follow. Does your past dictate your future or does your heart?
Amy and Nick were college students, soul mates, lovers and a beacon to each other showing the way to the future and a life of fulfilled dreams. Nick goes to Costa Rica for a short 3-month class excursion but never comes back. When the rest of the class returns without Nick, no one offers any explanation other than he stayed behind. Amy is left to wonder what happened to the silent but understood vow they made to each other. What could have happened that would have caused him to change course in his life goals? All of her efforts to uncover the truth are met with dead ends and she is left with a life of unanswered questions.
After weeks and months of looking for answers and explanations and none appearing, Amy returns to her home town blanketed in despair and depression. Over time she develops a relationship with a long-lost friend from her high school days and soon they are married and begin a family -- one son and one daughter. Twenty five years later her world will fall apart.
Nick finally returns from Costa Rica with a woman by his side -- a rich woman with a forceful personality who is used to getting what she wants. They eventually marry and start a family --- one daughter and two sons. Twenty five years later his world will fall apart.
Two college students fall in love. Each are speaking of a life-long commitment and feel it is time to have their parents meet. What would be a better setting than one of their college football games and tailgating party? Amy and her husband arrive anxious to meet not only the girl who has won their son's heart but the parents who raised her. Nick and his wife arrive looking forward to meeting the young man who makes their daughter's face light up and the parents who raised him.
Twenty five years vanish just like that. It was as if the sky turned the darkest shade of black and a dense cloud has even covered the light from the moon. Present and past emotions are colliding at an accelerating rate and a crash is imminent. Who will be first to break the silence?
How do you find your way when the needle on your compass has disappeared? How do you find your path forward when even the light of the moon is lost to you? Whose heart can you trust to help you find your true North? And when the sun finally rises, who and what will you find has been destroyed in the dark of night?
This was a very thought provoking story of choosing the right fork in the road to follow. Does your past dictate your future or does your heart?
October 13, 2017
I kinda hated the main characters by the end of this. Amy and Nick were pretty selfish to put their families through the wringer to resolve their 25-year-old college romance.
May 18, 2014
Losing the Moon .. by Patti Callahan Henry... The first part of this book moved too slow. Meeting a son's first girl friend brings more complications than wanted. The girls father had been an important part of Amy's life more than twenty-five years earlier. It was shocking. Amy lost her way, then realized she couldn't be that way. She sought forgiveness from her family. It was slow coming. She chose a new work direction with her best friend Carol. It began a new healing for her. Good story.
August 16, 2012
This book was just ok. I think the author took the easy way out to get a happy ending. She should have took some risks. The story is a little farfetched to me. It's hard to believe that if you are that much in love with someone that you just give up and get engaged to someone else under a year later.
February 24, 2013
I kept waiting for something to happen in this book and it never did.
June 20, 2024
DNF. I got tired of the overuse of similes and metaphors in every single sentence. I love descriptive writing, but I got bogged down in trying to figure out if the figurative language even made sense. The plot sounded very intriguing, which is why I picked it up, but I found it completely unbelievable.
April 24, 2023
If you can relate to the soul crushing agony of deep desire and the battle between what is right and wrong, this will hit you in the feels. This book found me at the perfect time and I have a whole new outlook. This makes you lift the layers and find the true cause of pain and loss.
December 8, 2016
If possible, this would be a 4.5 star review, only shy of 5 because of some poor editing. The story was fabulous. Who among us would not want to find out what became of the one who got away? What happens when an unexpected twist of fate brings a man and a woman together again, face to face, after nearly 30 years? What will happen to their marriages, their families, their lives? I LOVED that Callahan did NOT take the easy way out and turn this novel into a fairy tale. Her characters were imperfect and pained, but not bad people. The writing was beautiful, though I was constantly irked by the numerous time the author had her male characters lift the chins of the females, touching their faces, etc. Once or twice to have done so would have gone unnoticed, but the same movement happened so many times that it because annoying (thus my gripe is with the editor who failed to remove and change the repetitive wording). I loved the book, as I have other of her works. Great southern writing, relatable tales, raw emotion, nothing trite or too predicable....all of these make this author's novels favorites of mine.
November 2, 2015
I really enjoyed listening to Losing the Moon by Patti Callahan Henry. Having grown up in Kentucky and vacationing in many southern locales, I just love good southern fiction. For a synopsis of the story, check out the Goodreads version.
This is a story of lost love and what can happen when the offspring of two young lovers decide to date each other. I loved the conflict throughout the story as well as the development of the main character, Amy Reynolds. I was cheering for Nick Lowry for a while, but then I felt he became somewhat of a creeper. Is this one of those neatly tidied up endings? No, that is what was good about this story.
Go Cards! L1C4!!
This is a story of lost love and what can happen when the offspring of two young lovers decide to date each other. I loved the conflict throughout the story as well as the development of the main character, Amy Reynolds. I was cheering for Nick Lowry for a while, but then I felt he became somewhat of a creeper. Is this one of those neatly tidied up endings? No, that is what was good about this story.
Go Cards! L1C4!!
May 29, 2019
Patti Callahan Henry has a lovely writing style. She is deft at setting a scene, and her similes and metaphors are dramatic (maybe even a bit over the top at times). However, this is one of those cases where an author has grown tremendously over her career. Her newer books are very good, intricately drawn stories. But every older work of hers that I have read seems to follow the same formulaic plot - lost love from many years ago returns to wreak havoc on the main character’s current life. Ugh, sorry, this is just not believable to me - that 25 years later, two people are willing to throw away their whole lives for a young love. I love real, flawed characters, but these two characters were selfish and weak. A beautifully written book, but not a good story.
January 14, 2022
PCH wrote one of my absolute favorite books from 2021 (Becoming Mrs. Lewis), so I was interested in seeing how I would like her other work. This novel is a little older--early 2000s I think.
I know PCH is a believer, so I was intrigued with how she would handle this topic of old love returning with both partners currently married because she isn't necessarily a Christian fiction writer. At first I wasn't sure--but she really tackled it. I don't want to spoil anything, but she didn't shy away from what tempts us in long term marriages or how, as a woman, our identity can be all the places it shouldn't: how we parent, our work, our relationships.
Looking forward to checking more of her novels off my list!
I know PCH is a believer, so I was intrigued with how she would handle this topic of old love returning with both partners currently married because she isn't necessarily a Christian fiction writer. At first I wasn't sure--but she really tackled it. I don't want to spoil anything, but she didn't shy away from what tempts us in long term marriages or how, as a woman, our identity can be all the places it shouldn't: how we parent, our work, our relationships.
Looking forward to checking more of her novels off my list!
February 9, 2024
2 people randomly meet again after 25 years and become obsessed with the idea that they are supposed to be together. I didn't like Nic at all. Was he supposed to be likeable? Because he came across as a selfish cheater who can't keep his hands to himself and Amy while likeable, can't show any good judgment when it comes to hanging out with a man who is off limits while she is also off limits. Then she just has incredible guilt and wants everyone to forgive her and understand she was just "finding herself". Yeah no. I've liked others from Patti Callahan Henry so this was disappointing
February 4, 2025
I’m not sure how to provide a review for this book without giving the story away. At a minimum, there was just too much self-centerness and stupidity in not thinking through actions and how these actions would impact others. I lost my empathy early on for both of the main characters and only stayed with the story to see if the author could recoup any of the respectable characteristics that should have been a part of the two supposedly intelligent adults. This book should not be romanticized by anyone.
July 17, 2017
I enjoyed it, but it did not end like I had wanted it to. A good story of missed opportunities.
July 2017- I read it again. This time, the ending suited me a little better. The editing bothered me Amy was spelled Ame also, sometimes in the same line of type.
July 2017- I read it again. This time, the ending suited me a little better. The editing bothered me Amy was spelled Ame also, sometimes in the same line of type.
September 8, 2015
A solid 4 stars.
May 8, 2023
I have quickly become a big fan of Patti Callahan Henry, but as the reader, this one was irritating. The main character Amy deserved a little more credit than what she got. I liked the idea of Amy getting the wake-up call that she is her own compass, but it was almost unbelievable how “out of it” she became. The picture was painted that she was completely devoted to the life she had, but we’re throwing that completely away overnight for a lost love?
We never get a WHY behind the love as well. What was it about Nick that made her feel this way, what was it truly about Amy that made Nick feel the way he did about her?
Honestly, it felt like FOMO for Nick missing out on the life he thought he should have had and that manifested into some almost creepy, obsessive behavior. The island and having a speech already prepared for talking her down from the shame she would feel, that just felt selfish and manipulative.
We never get a WHY behind the love as well. What was it about Nick that made her feel this way, what was it truly about Amy that made Nick feel the way he did about her?
Honestly, it felt like FOMO for Nick missing out on the life he thought he should have had and that manifested into some almost creepy, obsessive behavior. The island and having a speech already prepared for talking her down from the shame she would feel, that just felt selfish and manipulative.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 15, 2024
Like most mothers, Amy Reynolds has anticipated the moment when her son brings home his first serious girlfriend. But she’s shocked to meet the girl’s father. Nick Lowry was the college boyfriend who captivated her heart and soul and then, without a word of explanation or warning, disappeared. She still wonders what took him away from her.
Amy’s marriage is satisfying, her teenage children thriving. She loves her beautifully restored home and her work teaching at the local college. She has long since buried her memories of Nick. But now that he is back in her life, she can’t help recalling the beach where they pledged their destinies together twenty years ago. She can’t help missing the young woman she was then, full of passion and promise. And she can’t help being tempted by the life she might have lived...might still live—even though making that choice would betray all she holds dear.
Amy’s marriage is satisfying, her teenage children thriving. She loves her beautifully restored home and her work teaching at the local college. She has long since buried her memories of Nick. But now that he is back in her life, she can’t help recalling the beach where they pledged their destinies together twenty years ago. She can’t help missing the young woman she was then, full of passion and promise. And she can’t help being tempted by the life she might have lived...might still live—even though making that choice would betray all she holds dear.
August 1, 2024
Jane Jane gave me this book to read! We both love this author and she loved this book. I had her copy, but…. It fell into the river on my canoeing trip and I had to check out a copy from the library! Hah! I started off not so sure about the book due to the old love interest. By the end of the book, I really appreciated it and the conversation with the author at the end of the novel gave some insight into the author’s interest in writing about love. I reached a point at the end of the book where I cried so hard when Amy realized she had lost herself over the years. I think of my grandmother Jane Jane, who gave me this book, and was moved by all that she has given and done in her lifetime to her husband, children, grandchildren, and friends. So much that she has done that has not been given credit for and I am going to let her know how much we appreciate her! Still processing the book and understanding the emotions it evoked in me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 7, 2023
Amy and Phil Reynolds meet their son Jack's girlfriend Lizbeth and her parents when Amy is shocked to find that Lisbeth's father is Nick Lowry her college boyfriend who without a word of explanation or warning disappeared in Costa Rica. Its been Twenty five years and Amy still remembers what she felt for Nick and she still wonders what took him away from her. As a wife and mother she discovers that although life has led her in joyous new directions, she still secretly cherished memories of her very first love. Life has been good to Amy, her marriage is satisfying, her teenage children thriving, she loves her beautifully restored home, a member of the Oystertip Wilderness Protectors and her work teaching at the local college but Amy has long since buried her memories of Nick.
July 21, 2023
Has someone ever kept something from you, because they thought that was what was best? They decided for you what it is you wanted in life, that's what happens to Nick and Amy they live for the next 25 years wondering what happened and not knowing the full truth so they move on make a life of their own, a family, until they are both brought back together through their own children opening old wounds and shifting their stable routines they believed they were content with, I really enjoyed this story I kept wanting to know what was happening next and the ending was definitely not something I was thinking would happen I love not being able to predict what happens next ♡
November 13, 2024
Losing the Moon is about Amy, a woman that is confronted with her past quite hard when a lost lover from college shows up in her life after they both haven’t seen each other in 25 years. Both have spouses and a family, but they are drawn to each other like magnets as they unravel their pasts and present together. Except it takes a harsh turn and sends Amy spiraling to get back to her family and husband.
I loved this from start to finish. So much. There are so many good quotes in this that I had to bookmark and I couldn’t put it down most nights. Hugely recommend. Also a refreshing difference to most books of this plot style which I can’t really explain without spoilerrrrssss.
I loved this from start to finish. So much. There are so many good quotes in this that I had to bookmark and I couldn’t put it down most nights. Hugely recommend. Also a refreshing difference to most books of this plot style which I can’t really explain without spoilerrrrssss.
August 4, 2022
One who got away story. The buildup to what occurred between the two could be seen a country mile off. I wasn’t thrilled over her reaction afterwards. Seemed a bit extreme and juvenile. Where were the big girl pants when she needed them? Lots of running, denial, internal angst: I do, I don’t. I will, I don’t., etc…
Overall not a horrible story but not my absolute favorite. There were s few poignant statements that author shared which spoke to me so, not a total waste of effort. Some parts were slow and others went on and on.
Overall not a horrible story but not my absolute favorite. There were s few poignant statements that author shared which spoke to me so, not a total waste of effort. Some parts were slow and others went on and on.
February 4, 2023
Pattí Callahan relata una historia de amor quebrada por circunstancias ajenas, accidéntales y no definidas.
Su novela es una exposición simple del raro complejo del ser contraponiéndose los sentimientos profundos con las responsabilidades en un duelo en el que finalmente gana este último.
Los sentimientos muchas veces no se unen con l razón y ,tarde o temprano, generan crisis y sentimientos de culpa
Interesante manejo de l narrativa aunque dispersa en muchos momentos por un uso excesivo de adjetivos en sus descripciones
Su novela es una exposición simple del raro complejo del ser contraponiéndose los sentimientos profundos con las responsabilidades en un duelo en el que finalmente gana este último.
Los sentimientos muchas veces no se unen con l razón y ,tarde o temprano, generan crisis y sentimientos de culpa
Interesante manejo de l narrativa aunque dispersa en muchos momentos por un uso excesivo de adjetivos en sus descripciones
March 26, 2023
i’ve never read a book by this author and have never heard about it and i was so excited to get into a book that i’ve never seen or heard about before. i went in with really low expectations but it was actually really good. the writing was amazing, i loved the whole concept of the books and romance plot. although at some points it was slightly boring as nothing was really happening and the male interest kinda irritated me as he was just overly obsessed with amy and didn’t really care about his family whereas she cared about her family enough to leave him behind..
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 22, 2023
I thought the story line was a great idea. Who would think that after 25 yrs, you would run into your first love, especially when it’s his daughter and her son that are dating. Is Amy still in love with Nick as much as he is still in love with her. Amy is in love with her husband Phil and loves her children Jack, and Molly, and now this man shows up in her life again. What happened in Costa Rica and who is hiding the truth of what really happened. Are they supposed to be together or is Amy confused.
April 1, 2023
"Time was stored in her body in such a way that the first mention or shiver of the past called forth; memories were not just hidden in her brain for her to gaze at in sweet reverie as a moving picture of life. Past time was attached to her body's response - muscle-gripping and emotional washes - hiding in her cells. Memory came how and when it pleased. Time grew and expanded and saved its face for dreams and moments when she least wanted or needed to see it."
August 25, 2023
This took me a while to get into…a few critiques. Weather was inaccurate for how it would be in the Lowcountry. Things would not be freezing over and there would not be icicles. So much door kicking??? Fro multiple characters. Nick called Amy “Ame” at the lake house. I don’t know why that didn’t draw more attention from her husband, his wife, the kids. Give it credit because they’re didn’t end ip together
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 6, 2025
This book is a staple on my bookshelf. Patti's first book baby was not only a page-turner, it was a thought-provoker. Released in 2004, I'm still re-reading it every year or two. No spoilers, but at various points of my life I wonder what I would've done in the protagonist's situation—when everything you believed is dismantled and reality no longer feels real. Existential crisis, anyone?
Fantastic read.
Fantastic read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 190 reviews