What Remains of You

by Kimberly Hensle Lowrance

A widow’s discovery of her husband’s devastating past threatens to destroy everything she believed about their marriage in a gripping and emotional novel about love and secrets.

Dear Diana, If you’ve found this letter, I’m gone.

Eighteen months after her husband Tom’s death, Diana Morgan is still grieving and struggling to move on, while striving to be the strongest parent she can for their two children. When she finds a letter from Tom meant for her eyes only, she expects a final declaration of love—not a cryptic confession to a terrible unnamed crime.

But Tom’s secret is not his alone. There are others who know, others who may try to insinuate themselves into Diana’s life. Tom Don’t let them in. Reeling with disbelief and fear, Diana begins to doubt everything she remembers of their marriage. What was real? What was manipulation? And who can she trust?

Embarking on a dangerous quest for answers, Diana travels to her husband’s small hometown in Vermont. She knows the secrets Tom was holding all stem from here. But will the truth about the man she loved bring her peace, or will it shatter her world?

Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Fiction, Ebooks, Mystery Thriller, Adult, Amazon

301 pages, Paperback

Expected publication July 1, 2026

About the author

Kimberly Hensle Lowrance is the author of the debut novel, What Remains of You (Lake Union Publishing, July 1, 2026).

Her writing can be found in the Boston Globe, WBUR’s Cognoscenti, Embark Literary Journal, Mothers Always Write, among other publications. She’s also been included in two anthologies: The Pandemic Midlife Crisis: Gen X Women on the Brink and Specimen Science: Ethics and Policy Implications.

Most recently, she was a producer and on-air host for A Mighty Blaze, an online literary platform co-founded by authors Caroline Leavitt and Jenna Blum. Kimberly co-hosted Authors Love Bookstores, interviewing booksellers and authors, including Judy Blume, Ann Patchett, Maggie O’Farrell, Curtis Sittenfeld, Susan Orlean, and many others.

Kimberly’s other roles include nonprofit director, consultant, blogger, volunteer, and elected official. A graduate of Boston University and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, she lives in Massachusetts with her family and their very shy rescue dog.

Reviews

[Casey Reads 🌸 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Her husband dies and leaves behind a letter that makes her wonder if she truly knew him at all.

I found this book to be really slow at times especially in the beginning. When it came to the mystery part, it was not really what I was expecting. I wanted more from that and it was just bland.

Overall, not bad, but too slow for my taste. It wasn’t really what I was expecting, but it wasn’t bad. I think I expected something more explosive and this was more realistic of a secret.

Thank you to Amazon First Reads for this free advanced copy.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grabbed this book for one of my two June Prime First Reads.
3.5 stars
I'm sitting on my feelings about this book. I'm not sure how to feel. I know personal feelings play into my opinion. Other than those opinions on certain aspects of the book it was a solid story.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great debut novel that begs the question - how far would you go to discover secrets taken to the grave, given that those secrets might destroy your family? Diana Morgan is recently widowed, and is struggling with life and raising her two young children on her own. When she discovers a letter written by her husband before he passed away asking for forgiveness for an old crime he committed, but ending saying that she and the children were the best thing he had in his life, she’s confused. What happens when the person you think you know perhaps isn’t that person at all? Diana grapples with whether to try to solve the mystery or let it lie, but when her 12 year old son Duncan finds the letter and reads it, she’s prompted to begin a search that just might change everything they knew about her husband and Duncan and Phoebe’s father.

I enjoyed this one - pub date is 6/30/26. Thanks to the author for sharing with our book club!

[Frances Corrigan · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay, found it pretty predictable

[Heather~ Nature.books.and.coffee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was quite a thought provoking and tension filled debut, with twists that I did not see coming. I'm so happy I got to read it. Diana lost her husband 18 months ago, when she came across a letter her husband left her. She was expecting it to be a heartfelt goodbye letter, but it wasn't that. It was a confession. To a crime. She is completely caught off guard and now wonders who her husband really was. She wants to protect her young children, and she also wants to solve this long buried mystery. She heads to his small hometown in Vermont to do some digging and find out the truth. This was truly a captivating read. Hard to believe it was a debut. Diana was a character with depth and although sometimes she made some not so great decisions, I found her to be so interesting and real. I can't wait to read more books by Lowrance in the future.

Thank you to the publisher, author, netgalley, and Suzy approved book tours for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

[William de_Rham · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s a mystery here. But there’s also a deep dive into marriage, all kinds of family relationships, cancer, the loss of a spouse, and grief—lots and lots of grief. The characters are well-drawn and seem realistic. Author Kimberly Hensle Lowrance employs ample, well-observed details of their day-to-day lives to portray them. But the story moves slowly and is filled with many digressions, not to mention repetition. “What Remains of You” is probably better suited to readers seeking a novel that is more literary and character-driven than it is reliant on plot, or a clever, complex mystery of the type penned by say, an Agatha Christie, a James Patterson, or a John Grisham.

[Joseph Moldover · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is not what you expect. A widow finds a letter from her dead husband that reveals a haunting and mysterious past, setting her on a journey to find out who he was and what he did. It's a great hook, and it more than delivers as a literary page-turner with twists you won't see coming. It's more than that, though: WHAT REMAINS OF YOU will make you think differently about family, mortality, health, marriage. It's a book that will move you and that you'll love and share with all the other readers in your life. I'm lucky to have had the chance to read it.

[Crystal King · Rating 5 out of 5]

The premise of this book alone hooked me. Diana Morgan, a forty-something widow outside Boston, opens a family time capsule with her two children eighteen months after her husband's sudden death and finds a letter from him confessing to a crime he committed at eighteen. Most novels with this setup would race toward the answer. Hensle Lowrance does the harder thing and lingers in the awful, mundane texture of being a widow trying to parent two kids while the person you thought you knew rearranges in your memory in real time. A stunning, page-turner of a debut.

[Sandra R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really 4.4 stars

Having been through something similar, I think the author does a good job. Eventually, the main character will have to cover all of this ground with her kids. They will know/sense her withholding information. Some decisions made towards the end of the story may come back to haunt her. I think that a book with the next door neighbor as the main character would be good.

[Rebecca Augustine · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Someone Has Lost a Spouse ...

... that one has tended to put on a pedestal, and then receives a mysterious, posthumous letter that confesses to past criminal activity and then warns the grieving party of possible vengeance seekers yet not to pursue finding out what actually happened, what should one do?

The grieving widow Diana decides, of course, to ignore her late husband's advice and seek out the truth -- whatever the consequences.

[Kimberly Hroma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful, suspenseful & hearfelt

My 1st time reading this author-thank you ‘Amazon 1st reads’! Enjoyed it ALOT! Looking forward to reading more! AMAZING characters & terrific story!! And i really really liked how everything got covered!!! I don’t like books ending with questions rolling around my mind!

[Aliya Ray · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this book What Remains of You from Amazon First Reads. It was just too slow!! Like dragging...I tried to give it a chance but I'm wasting prime reading time trying to figure out what this secret is. I just cant! I keep going to sleep. #DNF

[JESSICA GERMAN · Rating 5 out of 5]

wonderful story telling

I could not bear to leave this book unfinished. I love the story telling and dynamic characters involved. I was hoping Tom to be found to be perfect but humans are not.

[Melanie Olenwine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. It didn’t race through her pain, confusion, or grief. The characters were developed and the story realistic. Didn’t have a rushed ending or weird twist; Just a believable ending to an emotional tale.

[June Howard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Diana is a widow and mother of two. In opening a time capsule her family had put together she discovers a mysterious letter from her husband confessing to serious things he did in his youth. Diana sets up to uncover these things. I thought this book was ok and a little predictable at the end.

[Suzanne Leopold (Suzy Approved Book Reviews) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a debut! This one grabbed me in the first few chapters and because it is a mystery, I could not put it down. The novel covers many relatable themes as the protagonist works thru the grief from the death of her spouse. I am excited to see what this writer has in store next!

[Kelsey Lawlis · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️ rounded up

•Amazon First reads

[CherylBCz]

Pretty decent Amazon First Reads selection.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fine. Nothing that leaped out and said, “can’t wait to share about this book!” It was just….fine.

[Sara Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super easy and quick read. It was a decent suspense, but there were holes in the story line and the ending wasn’t realistic.

[Deanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick chapters, predictable mystery

[Teresa Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

a must read

Loved this novel and recommend you read it. The search, the heartache, the love is felt. What we see in people isn’t all there is.

[Norman Larke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit slow to start, I found the story line a bit thin but Had finish the story

[Jennifer S. Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolutely unputdownable novel about a woman, Diana, who finds a note her husband left for her before he died, letting her know that he did something bad at some point in his life. It throws Diana's life into a tailspin as she attempts to discover what her husband had been hiding, while protecting her two young children's memory of their father. It's a thought-provoking and suspenseful novel that asks questions about how well we know the ones we're married to.

Diana is a complex character, and I appreciated that she wasn't always likable, that she sometimes did questionable things, making her much more realistic. The secondary characters are equally human. The ending of the novel was deeply satisfying, and I definitely recommend this novel!

[Kimberly Lowrance · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m excited What Remains of You is finding its way to readers, and I hope you enjoy it!