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The Brink of Something Beautiful: A Novel
For readers of Miriam Toews and Claire Keegan, an immersive and deeply poignant new novel set on the Rock about female friendship and found family.
Ruby Nolan is a new widow. Hidden in her grief and guilt for her husband, Joe, is a sense that she is free from a marriage she never wanted. But how can she possibly begin again? An encounter with Maxine, a pregnant teen who reminds Ruby of her own sorry past, and a shocking revelation from her mother, Vera, send Ruby on a collision course with old truths and regrets and on a mission to help Maxine whether she wants it or not. While a friend warns Ruby that you can’t help anyone until you help yourself, it’s a lesson Ruby has to learn the hard way if she’s going to find any real peace.
Set over the course of one winter in 1990s St. John’s and infused with the rich culture and characters of the Rock, The Brink of Something Beautiful is the life-affirming, ultimately hopeful story about how women lift each other up and figure themselves out.
Ruby Nolan is a new widow. Hidden in her grief and guilt for her husband, Joe, is a sense that she is free from a marriage she never wanted. But how can she possibly begin again? An encounter with Maxine, a pregnant teen who reminds Ruby of her own sorry past, and a shocking revelation from her mother, Vera, send Ruby on a collision course with old truths and regrets and on a mission to help Maxine whether she wants it or not. While a friend warns Ruby that you can’t help anyone until you help yourself, it’s a lesson Ruby has to learn the hard way if she’s going to find any real peace.
Set over the course of one winter in 1990s St. John’s and infused with the rich culture and characters of the Rock, The Brink of Something Beautiful is the life-affirming, ultimately hopeful story about how women lift each other up and figure themselves out.
- GenresFiction
304 pages, Paperback
Published April 21, 2026
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432 people want to read
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Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
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⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Brink of Something Beautiful
Bobbi French
Publication Date: April 21st, 2026
HarperCollins Canada | HarperAvenue
304 Pages
Amazon | Bookshop.org
Genre: General Fiction | Women's Fiction
This was a very emotional read for me. It's set in 1990s St. John’s, Newfoundland, during the winter, and it's about Ruby, who has recently become a widow. Ruby is feeling the grief of losing a loved one, and she feels a lot of guilt too. Ruby also has a secret; she also feels relieved that Joe is no longer in her life. She never really wanted to be married to him in the first place.
Then Ruby meets Maxine. Maxine is a pregnant teenager, and her situation reminds Ruby of her own past. Ruby feels protective of Maxine for this reason. What I took from the story was that Ruby finally understood that she can't help Maxine until she learns to help and forgive herself. I liked that the book wasn't melodramatic. Yes, there were emotional parts, but it didn't go over the top. Ruby finds her inner strength and is very empathetic. And the plot of found family felt real and was very moving.
I loved the setting of 1990s St. John’s. I have travelled the west of Canada, but never the East Coast, and this book put me there. I could feel the wind and smell the salty air. The author also uses Newfoundland dialect and culture. I have family that lives in Newfoundland, and it was very realistic. The book did a great job balancing heavy topics with a sense of hope. Ruby doesn't spend her time having a pity party, and the author didn't get too sappy with the joyful parts either. It's a story about women helping women. We all have difficult times to get through in life, so it's nice to know you have friends who aren't there just for the fair-weather days. This was an excellent character-driven story with lots of emotional baggage and little flicks of hopefulness. I can't recommend it enough. All. The. Stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
The Book Review Crew Blog
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Brink of Something Beautiful
Bobbi French
Publication Date: April 21st, 2026
HarperCollins Canada | HarperAvenue
304 Pages
Amazon | Bookshop.org
Genre: General Fiction | Women's Fiction
This was a very emotional read for me. It's set in 1990s St. John’s, Newfoundland, during the winter, and it's about Ruby, who has recently become a widow. Ruby is feeling the grief of losing a loved one, and she feels a lot of guilt too. Ruby also has a secret; she also feels relieved that Joe is no longer in her life. She never really wanted to be married to him in the first place.
Then Ruby meets Maxine. Maxine is a pregnant teenager, and her situation reminds Ruby of her own past. Ruby feels protective of Maxine for this reason. What I took from the story was that Ruby finally understood that she can't help Maxine until she learns to help and forgive herself. I liked that the book wasn't melodramatic. Yes, there were emotional parts, but it didn't go over the top. Ruby finds her inner strength and is very empathetic. And the plot of found family felt real and was very moving.
I loved the setting of 1990s St. John’s. I have travelled the west of Canada, but never the East Coast, and this book put me there. I could feel the wind and smell the salty air. The author also uses Newfoundland dialect and culture. I have family that lives in Newfoundland, and it was very realistic. The book did a great job balancing heavy topics with a sense of hope. Ruby doesn't spend her time having a pity party, and the author didn't get too sappy with the joyful parts either. It's a story about women helping women. We all have difficult times to get through in life, so it's nice to know you have friends who aren't there just for the fair-weather days. This was an excellent character-driven story with lots of emotional baggage and little flicks of hopefulness. I can't recommend it enough. All. The. Stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
January 31, 2026
Found family, women helping women, grief, and middle age awakenings. I really liked this. Probably 4.5.
April 30, 2026
TW for Intimate partner abuse and SIDS. The author, a former psychiatrist, writes with tremendous sensitivity and includes an acknowledgment to abuse survivors in afterward. Characters are richly portrayed. Setting of St John’s NL, impending Y2K, widowhood from a not-so-wanted marriage plus finding and fighting for your own family are uniquely woven together in this remarkably touching novel. Recommended. But guard your heart.
May 8, 2026
When you loved an author’s previous book it’s hard not to compare the two. Ruby is another Newfoundland woman who is living the life that happened instead of the one she wanted. So relatable for so many women. Again we have a focus on wonderful female friends/found family taking care of each other. However, I didn’t feel the same love and empathy for Ruby as I did for Frances from The Good Women of Safe Harbour. Ruby is definitely a distinct and more complicated character. Good Women ended in such a satisfying albeit sad way, while this one ends on the cusp of something, perhaps something that could continue in a sequel. I found the domestic violence hard to read about as it should be. A good read, I just didn’t love it quite as much as her first. Will definitely look for more work by this author in the future.
May 3, 2026
This was an audio read . The setting is Newfoundland and the book evolves the recent widow Ruby who gives us insight into her upbringing, her marriage to Joe , her struggles to become a mother and her caring personality which enabled her to help nineteen year old Maxine . Ruby’s life seems to blossom after becoming a widow but as she relives portions of her life this new energized Ruby has her husband to thank for the woman she became. A refreshing read about women finding solace and strength from other women in their lives.
May 6, 2026
This is by no means an easy read but it’s an important one.
It’s a book about women, broken and brave.
It’s about the power of resilience and strong connections that help us thru the very heartbreaking realities of life.
It’s beautiful and tender, full of found family and hope!
Trigger warnings:
SIDS, intimate partner abuse.
It’s a book about women, broken and brave.
It’s about the power of resilience and strong connections that help us thru the very heartbreaking realities of life.
It’s beautiful and tender, full of found family and hope!
Trigger warnings:
SIDS, intimate partner abuse.
April 27, 2026
Readers who enjoyed the author’s previous novel, The Good Women of Safe Harbour, will also like this one.
It is 1999 in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Fifty-year-old Ruby Nolan is newly widowed. She is battling mixed emotions: she grieves the loss of her husband Joe but she also feels a sense of freedom from a marriage she never wanted. Ruby meets 18-year-old Maxine who knew Joe through his job as a penitentiary guard. The pregnant Maxine reminds Ruby of herself when she too was pregnant at a young age. She makes it her mission to help Maxine but it’s questionable whether she is trying to help the young woman or herself. Both her mother Vera and a friend tell her she must first take care of herself and deal with her own issues before helping someone else deal with hers.
Ruby is a likeable character. From the way she tries to help Maxine and the way she cares for her mother, who is suffering from dementia, it is obvious Ruby is loving, kind and compassionate. She is intelligent; not only did she earn the position of director of medical records at a hospital but she has a wide breadth of knowledge as shown in her excelling at trivia. She is a believable character because she has flaws which she acknowledges as the novel progresses. She speaks of being tied to her husband by grief and guilt and pity and penance. She knows that she is too concerned about the judgments of others.
Dynamic characters always appeal to me and Ruby is that. The novel shows her on a mid-life journey of discovery. She learns about herself and others. For instance, she seems focused on her unhappiness in her marriage but comes to realize that there was joy and that she underestimated and undervalued her husband. She also comes to see her mother in a different way and to view a family tragedy as not her fault.
Ruby is the narrator, but interspersed are some first-person chapters from Maxine’s perspective. I found myself frequently being frustrated with Maxine’s choices, but I had to keep in mind that she is in her late teens. Seeing her point of view means that though I did not agree with her decisions, I understood her motivation. However, is it realistic that she wouldn’t know about dementia or that she calls a concussion a percussion?
The characterization of Cory, Maxine’s partner, is well done. He’s not an admirable person, but the author makes an attempt to not portray him as totally villainous. For instance, Maxine believes that he is scared about the birth of his child and Ruby notices that he seems beaten down with “sad, lifeless eyes [which] hinted at suffering that had begun long before.” Cory’s life, as well as those of Ruby and Maxine, emphasizes the theme of intergenerational trauma.
Intimate partner and gender-based violence are a focus in the book. More than one character is a victim. However, I did find that sometimes there is a heavy-handedness to the message. Ruby thinks about “the dangerous lives of women” and how women must learn “how to bob and weave and cajole and soothe the ego of the weakest creature on the planet.” Ruby and her friends discuss the importance of women helping women because “Who else had boots on the ground? Not the cops and the judges. Not the politicians and priests. All those brave, righteous men, standing around holding their dicks while we were dying in droves.”
Besides actually referencing the village of Safe Harbour, the novel has thematic similarities with The Good Women of Safe Harbour: intergenerational friendships, found family, and the power of female friendship. The message of French’s first novel is that one should live the life of one’s own choosing and that too is a message in The Brink of Something Beautiful. At the end of the novel there is hope that Ruby, unbound from duty, can make her own choices for her life and salvage some of what she believes she lost because her life was constrained by time and place and circumstances and her own personality.
Note: I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley.
Please check out my reader's blog (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/).
It is 1999 in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Fifty-year-old Ruby Nolan is newly widowed. She is battling mixed emotions: she grieves the loss of her husband Joe but she also feels a sense of freedom from a marriage she never wanted. Ruby meets 18-year-old Maxine who knew Joe through his job as a penitentiary guard. The pregnant Maxine reminds Ruby of herself when she too was pregnant at a young age. She makes it her mission to help Maxine but it’s questionable whether she is trying to help the young woman or herself. Both her mother Vera and a friend tell her she must first take care of herself and deal with her own issues before helping someone else deal with hers.
Ruby is a likeable character. From the way she tries to help Maxine and the way she cares for her mother, who is suffering from dementia, it is obvious Ruby is loving, kind and compassionate. She is intelligent; not only did she earn the position of director of medical records at a hospital but she has a wide breadth of knowledge as shown in her excelling at trivia. She is a believable character because she has flaws which she acknowledges as the novel progresses. She speaks of being tied to her husband by grief and guilt and pity and penance. She knows that she is too concerned about the judgments of others.
Dynamic characters always appeal to me and Ruby is that. The novel shows her on a mid-life journey of discovery. She learns about herself and others. For instance, she seems focused on her unhappiness in her marriage but comes to realize that there was joy and that she underestimated and undervalued her husband. She also comes to see her mother in a different way and to view a family tragedy as not her fault.
Ruby is the narrator, but interspersed are some first-person chapters from Maxine’s perspective. I found myself frequently being frustrated with Maxine’s choices, but I had to keep in mind that she is in her late teens. Seeing her point of view means that though I did not agree with her decisions, I understood her motivation. However, is it realistic that she wouldn’t know about dementia or that she calls a concussion a percussion?
The characterization of Cory, Maxine’s partner, is well done. He’s not an admirable person, but the author makes an attempt to not portray him as totally villainous. For instance, Maxine believes that he is scared about the birth of his child and Ruby notices that he seems beaten down with “sad, lifeless eyes [which] hinted at suffering that had begun long before.” Cory’s life, as well as those of Ruby and Maxine, emphasizes the theme of intergenerational trauma.
Intimate partner and gender-based violence are a focus in the book. More than one character is a victim. However, I did find that sometimes there is a heavy-handedness to the message. Ruby thinks about “the dangerous lives of women” and how women must learn “how to bob and weave and cajole and soothe the ego of the weakest creature on the planet.” Ruby and her friends discuss the importance of women helping women because “Who else had boots on the ground? Not the cops and the judges. Not the politicians and priests. All those brave, righteous men, standing around holding their dicks while we were dying in droves.”
Besides actually referencing the village of Safe Harbour, the novel has thematic similarities with The Good Women of Safe Harbour: intergenerational friendships, found family, and the power of female friendship. The message of French’s first novel is that one should live the life of one’s own choosing and that too is a message in The Brink of Something Beautiful. At the end of the novel there is hope that Ruby, unbound from duty, can make her own choices for her life and salvage some of what she believes she lost because her life was constrained by time and place and circumstances and her own personality.
Note: I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley.
Please check out my reader's blog (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/).
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
The fabulous new releases of Spring 2026 continue with this incredible novel from Bobbi French. An absolute masterpiece of character, place and time, with classic Newfoundland "what-li'l-old-me" understatement on every page.
Ruby escaped her difficult home by marrying Joe, who she liked enough to fuck but not necessarily enough to marry, but there you have it. They rub along over the years until death releases him from chronic pain. Who's the waif at his funeral? Just Maxine, aged out of foster care with minimal expectations for life. She explains to Ruby that Mr. Joe, the prison guard, was nicer to her than anyone when her mentally ill mother took her to visit her father. Ruby is touched, and sees a path to make sense of the hard knock life by being a surrogate mother to Maxine. But Maine's horrible partner has some opinions about that.
The plot is excellent but it's the word perfect writing that will have you, as my bookstafriend @readerbythewater says, finding more places to clean in your house just to keep listening. This one will be a strong contender for prizes and should definitely be on Canada Reads.
I listened to the audiobook. Dawn Harvey does amazing working-class/ under-class narration, though I wish it was in a true NL accent. Hope Bobbi French comes to my town and gives a reading.
Comps are About A Boy, featuring a man who doesn't realize he needs his found family until he's at their whacked-out Xmas; SNAP by Susin Nielsen about an intergenerational crew at anger management training -- so much found fam (so good!), and Elizabeth Strout for literary rendering of life reckoning.
Thanks to the author, publisher Harper Collins Canada and Netgalley for this advance copy in return for an honest review. Out April 21. #strongsenseofplace #atlanticcanada
Ruby escaped her difficult home by marrying Joe, who she liked enough to fuck but not necessarily enough to marry, but there you have it. They rub along over the years until death releases him from chronic pain. Who's the waif at his funeral? Just Maxine, aged out of foster care with minimal expectations for life. She explains to Ruby that Mr. Joe, the prison guard, was nicer to her than anyone when her mentally ill mother took her to visit her father. Ruby is touched, and sees a path to make sense of the hard knock life by being a surrogate mother to Maxine. But Maine's horrible partner has some opinions about that.
The plot is excellent but it's the word perfect writing that will have you, as my bookstafriend @readerbythewater says, finding more places to clean in your house just to keep listening. This one will be a strong contender for prizes and should definitely be on Canada Reads.
I listened to the audiobook. Dawn Harvey does amazing working-class/ under-class narration, though I wish it was in a true NL accent. Hope Bobbi French comes to my town and gives a reading.
Comps are About A Boy, featuring a man who doesn't realize he needs his found family until he's at their whacked-out Xmas; SNAP by Susin Nielsen about an intergenerational crew at anger management training -- so much found fam (so good!), and Elizabeth Strout for literary rendering of life reckoning.
Thanks to the author, publisher Harper Collins Canada and Netgalley for this advance copy in return for an honest review. Out April 21. #strongsenseofplace #atlanticcanada
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I became a huge fan of Bobbi French after her debut novel, The Good Women of Safe Harbour. Her second novel, The Brink of Something Beautiful, does not disappoint! The reader is taken to St. John's, Newfoundland where we meet recently widowed Ruby Nolan, as she prepares for her husband's funeral. I devoured this novel in under 24 hours and I will be thinking about it for a long time to come. French is a master at creating well-thought out characters through description and dialogue. I was immediately taken by Ruby's contemplation of next steps in her life, her caretaking for her mother Vera, who has alzheimers, and her compassion towards the young and pregnant Maxine. There were moments that I wanted to yell at Maxine and insist she listen to Ruby. I laughed along at the well placed humour in a book on difficult topics every time Colleen entered a scene. And my heart broke several times as I grew to love these women and wanted and hoped for the best outcome for them. French gave a proper voice to these characters from Newfoundland through their various sayings and dialect (I hope the audiobook will get this right). I could picture the beauty of the island, the colourful homes and the damp air. Most importantly, the topic of domestic violence is handled with care and portrayed realistically through these strong female characters. I continue to be a huge fan of Bobbi French and I hope you will be too.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
We need more books about ordinary women doing extraordinary things!
This new-to-me author explored female friendship and found family and set her narrative in the Maritimes. She examined how the child welfare system and domestic violence shape people and encouraged us to foster empathy.
Ruby Nolan was at a crossroads in life, not knowing whether to feel grief at the loss of her husband or allow her feelings of freedom to strengthen her and climb out from a life she didn’t want. Society’s expectations around grief don’t take into consideration people such as Ruby.
To help Ruby with her choice, the author (1) introduces her to Maxine and (2) creates an opportunity for Vera, Ruby’s mom, to share advice. Both women show Ruby that she can’t move forward or help others without first taking care of herself.
You’ll love the camaraderie of women helping women, the vivid Maritime setting, the authentic and richly crafted characters, and the themes of hope and healing.
We all have to make peace with something and/or live with difficult consequences and it’s nice to have a friend to lean on when facing these difficult choices, so I know this will resonate with many.
I was gifted this book and was under no obligation to provide a review.
This new-to-me author explored female friendship and found family and set her narrative in the Maritimes. She examined how the child welfare system and domestic violence shape people and encouraged us to foster empathy.
Ruby Nolan was at a crossroads in life, not knowing whether to feel grief at the loss of her husband or allow her feelings of freedom to strengthen her and climb out from a life she didn’t want. Society’s expectations around grief don’t take into consideration people such as Ruby.
To help Ruby with her choice, the author (1) introduces her to Maxine and (2) creates an opportunity for Vera, Ruby’s mom, to share advice. Both women show Ruby that she can’t move forward or help others without first taking care of herself.
You’ll love the camaraderie of women helping women, the vivid Maritime setting, the authentic and richly crafted characters, and the themes of hope and healing.
We all have to make peace with something and/or live with difficult consequences and it’s nice to have a friend to lean on when facing these difficult choices, so I know this will resonate with many.
I was gifted this book and was under no obligation to provide a review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I was drawn to this book because of the setting: St. John’s, Newfoundland. Newfoundland is my favourite place in the world. I have visited many times, love the people, love everything about it.
This is the story of a newly widowed woman in her 50s. Ruby. And a young lady with a rough background, now pregnant, with an unsavoury man as the father. Maxine.
Women helping women. This is one of my favourite themes. Ruby has had a lot in her life that she needs to come to grips with, but she is determined to help Maxine find her way too.
There is a lot of introspection for both Ruby and Maxine. I got familiar with them through each of their internal dialogues. While Ruby is Maxine's main support, Ruby builds her own circle of support through rekindling an old friendship. Both ladies benefit from it.
Great character building, a wonderful vision of Newfoundland. I enjoy a setting when I have some firsthand knowledge of it. I love that the Newfoundland speech pattern was evident.
I appreciated the ending. It wasn’t a storybook ending but there was a lot of positivity and hope.
Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.
This is the story of a newly widowed woman in her 50s. Ruby. And a young lady with a rough background, now pregnant, with an unsavoury man as the father. Maxine.
Women helping women. This is one of my favourite themes. Ruby has had a lot in her life that she needs to come to grips with, but she is determined to help Maxine find her way too.
There is a lot of introspection for both Ruby and Maxine. I got familiar with them through each of their internal dialogues. While Ruby is Maxine's main support, Ruby builds her own circle of support through rekindling an old friendship. Both ladies benefit from it.
Great character building, a wonderful vision of Newfoundland. I enjoy a setting when I have some firsthand knowledge of it. I love that the Newfoundland speech pattern was evident.
I appreciated the ending. It wasn’t a storybook ending but there was a lot of positivity and hope.
Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I adored The Good Women of Safe Harbour and I wasn’t disappointed in this one.
Sharing lots of thematic territory with Good Women, this is another beautiful exploration of marriage, found family and the power of community… but definitely much darker with the emphasis this time out on intimate partner violence and the inter-generational trauma that slows from it.
Concepts of “good” - and “goodness” - run throughout and when push comes to shove this one had me tearing up, just as I did when reading Good Women.
I wasn’t especially enamoured of the scattered individual chapters in Maxine’s voice - but I can live with them, in fact they grew on me. Oddly enough I think I found them jarring because the author did such a good job of differentiating the voice. Normally I’m complaining that there is no, or not enough, difference in voice… no winning.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for granting me access to an early digital review copy.
Sharing lots of thematic territory with Good Women, this is another beautiful exploration of marriage, found family and the power of community… but definitely much darker with the emphasis this time out on intimate partner violence and the inter-generational trauma that slows from it.
Concepts of “good” - and “goodness” - run throughout and when push comes to shove this one had me tearing up, just as I did when reading Good Women.
I wasn’t especially enamoured of the scattered individual chapters in Maxine’s voice - but I can live with them, in fact they grew on me. Oddly enough I think I found them jarring because the author did such a good job of differentiating the voice. Normally I’m complaining that there is no, or not enough, difference in voice… no winning.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for granting me access to an early digital review copy.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
The Brink of Something Beautiful is intimate and tender, full of found family, hope, and brave and broken women who stand up for themselves and others with love, laughter and not a small amount of daring.
A delightful read that'll have you smiling one moment, crying the next, then giggling through your tears, but a hard read, too, in the best way. Bobbi French doesn't shy away from the heartbreaking realities of life, while reminding us of the power of connection.
I blazed through the pages of this book, choosing it over my favourite shows, over sleep, often thinking about the next chance I'd have to visit its pages and carving in moments throughout my day to make sure I did.
Perfect for fans of Ethan Joella, this book is a joy.
A delightful read that'll have you smiling one moment, crying the next, then giggling through your tears, but a hard read, too, in the best way. Bobbi French doesn't shy away from the heartbreaking realities of life, while reminding us of the power of connection.
I blazed through the pages of this book, choosing it over my favourite shows, over sleep, often thinking about the next chance I'd have to visit its pages and carving in moments throughout my day to make sure I did.
Perfect for fans of Ethan Joella, this book is a joy.
March 27, 2026
4⭐️
Free from the marriage she never wanted, Ruby Nolan is battling both grief and guilt. After a chance encounter with a pregnant teen, Maxine sets her on a mission to help her and come to terms with her own past and regrets.
This is a heartwarming story about a woman coming to terms with the life she didn’t want to live, suddenly ending up opening up doors for her to be the person she always wanted to be. Through these she grapples with this narrative that her circumstances were the reason of her unhappiness when they may have been the sweetest parts of her. It’s also a devastating portrayal of the consequences and complications of abuse and the power someone has to help break that cycle. The characters are beautifully drawn evoking both frustration, empathy and care. You will find yourself routing for everyone.
Free from the marriage she never wanted, Ruby Nolan is battling both grief and guilt. After a chance encounter with a pregnant teen, Maxine sets her on a mission to help her and come to terms with her own past and regrets.
This is a heartwarming story about a woman coming to terms with the life she didn’t want to live, suddenly ending up opening up doors for her to be the person she always wanted to be. Through these she grapples with this narrative that her circumstances were the reason of her unhappiness when they may have been the sweetest parts of her. It’s also a devastating portrayal of the consequences and complications of abuse and the power someone has to help break that cycle. The characters are beautifully drawn evoking both frustration, empathy and care. You will find yourself routing for everyone.
April 29, 2026
Where do I even begin? French’s writing style is so cozy, so lovely, so damn near perfect. I loved this ode to women as a whole, friendship, perseverance, second chances, and much more. Colleen is one of the best characters I’ve ever read and I could do with a book about her and Shannon, to be honest. This book is so balanced, so thoughtful and I think the true test is telling a story of this depth in under 300 pages, Rhys’s skill. The downside here, is that I’ll forever compare her books and all books frankly, and next to that perfection, this comes in at a strong 4 ⭐️.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Thank you, Harper Collins Canada for the advance copy.
Another winning novel from Bobbi French. I adored The Good Women of Safe Harbour and had high expectations for The Brink of Something Beautiful. The characters in the novel are well-developed and easy to adore. The story is thoughtfully constructed and I honestly wanted to know how their stories continued after the novel was finished. A feel-good, easy to digest novel about found family, grief, and figuring out next steps in life.
Another winning novel from Bobbi French. I adored The Good Women of Safe Harbour and had high expectations for The Brink of Something Beautiful. The characters in the novel are well-developed and easy to adore. The story is thoughtfully constructed and I honestly wanted to know how their stories continued after the novel was finished. A feel-good, easy to digest novel about found family, grief, and figuring out next steps in life.
May 3, 2026
The way Bobbi French builds her characters, weaving beautiful storytelling with threads of gravitas, laugh-out-loud turns of phrase, sneak-up-on-you tears, while using deceptively simple and relatable language is astounding. I thought the perfection of "The Good Women of Safe Harbour" was perhaps unlikely to be matched... Bobbi proved me wrong. Beautiful.
April 22, 2026
Bobbi French has done it again! A book that found me just when I needed it. A heartfelt story about the power of women showing up for each other - through the messy, complicated, and beautiful parts of life. Finding “home", not just in a place, but in people. Highly recommend!!
April 30, 2026
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC audiobook.
I’d give this one 4⭐️ — I really liked it.
This felt more like reading someone’s life story than a typical novel, in a good way. It had that memoir-style vibe that made everything feel really real and personal. It’s set in Eastern Canada which I loved — the setting added so much to the overall feel of the book.
It’s one of those quieter stories that focuses on life, womanhood, and the hard stuff people go through. Not super plot-heavy, but still really meaningful. There were a lot of moments that just stuck with me.
Overall, a really beautiful story that felt honest and reflective, and I’m glad I picked it up.
I’d give this one 4⭐️ — I really liked it.
This felt more like reading someone’s life story than a typical novel, in a good way. It had that memoir-style vibe that made everything feel really real and personal. It’s set in Eastern Canada which I loved — the setting added so much to the overall feel of the book.
It’s one of those quieter stories that focuses on life, womanhood, and the hard stuff people go through. Not super plot-heavy, but still really meaningful. There were a lot of moments that just stuck with me.
Overall, a really beautiful story that felt honest and reflective, and I’m glad I picked it up.
May 4, 2026
absolutely adored this. Bobbi French is a new auto buy author. Highly recommend!!!!
May 8, 2026
Both heartbreaking and heartwarming.
May 8, 2026
🥹 beautifully written. Resilient women, changing their lives and breaking generational cycles. Love a story set in Canada 🇨🇦
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews