Temperance

by Shannon Lane

Olivia Clemens wants an easy life. Living as a widowed single mother in rural Pennsylvania with her young daughter, Maisie, she finds comfort in her simple, day-to-day routine. Until, one night, her estranged alcoholic father appears on her doorstep, altering life as she knows it.
Charles Collins is fresh out of rehab and seeking reconciliation with the daughter he hasn’t seen in seven years. Having never met his granddaughter, he wishes to make up for lost time, but his endeavors prove difficult as Olivia continually rebuffs his efforts.
Together, Olivia and Charles embark on a complicated journey of forgiveness, understanding, and respect, forging a bond they never thought possible. The true challenge? Sustaining the relationship, instead of falling off the wagon.

300 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 26, 2023

About the author

Shannon Lane is an author of contemporary literary fiction, living in Southern California with her husband, two rambunctious boys, and lovable black lab.
When not writing, she works as a special education teacher at a local elementary school, and enjoys hobbies such as singing, reading, working out, and hiking—and anything involving dinosaurs.
She's got three novels, and one short story, under her belt, with more stories in the works. You can follow her writing journey on social media @itsshannonlane

Reviews

[Piper Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book let alone how I’d feel.  Alcoholism has never personally touched me before, but truth be told, that was really just the title of the issue, not the overall root of the story.  Temperance is a thoughtfully and beautifully told story about acceptance and forgiveness and the muddy waters one must trudge through to get to the other side.  The story is told from Olivia’s POV, but there is such a profound gravity and believability to Charles.  Lane has executed a perfect balance of both of their struggles, journeys and recoveries.  It was poignant, moving and took me a hell of a lot by surprise—because I didn’t know what I was in for.  There was no ‘fat’ to the story; everything had purpose and there was no unnecessary fluff and bullshit.  The ending was gut-wrenching but by the last chapter (which had such an AMAZINGLY well written ending!), and the epilogue, things were tied up with a nice, neat bow, making the tears that I shed feel less sad.  Life moves on, and Lane has written an extraordinary story that will make you believe that even the worst struggles can be overcome and there is a light at the end of the tunnel. 5 ⭐️

[Jes Smyth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Told in Olivia’s point of view, the reader is dropped into her life as a thirty-year-old widowed mother of one when her estranged father shows up at her doorstep. Charles, her father, is fresh out of recovery with nowhere to go after his plans with his son fell through. Feeling as if she has no other choice, Olivia hesitantly brings Charles into her home temporarily, leaving Olivia to deal with a range of emotions and reactions. What unfolds is what one would and would not expect.

Olivia is steadfast in her awareness of what’s going on inside her; that much is clear. She knows when she’s angry, when she’s confused, when she’s protective of her daughter, Maisie, and when she starts to feel empathy, understanding, and forgiveness for Charles. Her interactions with her Grandma (whom I adored) helped her along the way to forgiveness and her mother (whom I felt was the rawest in her reactions) helped her see outside herself. Charles, for the most part, is regretful, apologetic, and hesitant to step on anyone’s toes. He, too, is steadfast in proving to his daughter that he has taken a turn for the better.

Lane’s writing is clean with lines that would pull at me, like:

I hate this feeling. That anticlimatic sensation that takes up residence in your heart after something you’ve been looking forward to gets ripped away at the very last second. It’s disheartening, and, miserable and…lonely.

This story is absolutely one of temperance, not just from alcohol. It’s a story that demonstrates the emotions we, as humans, are gifted (and cursed) to work through and, in Olivia’s case, tempering the ones that do not serve her—anger, distrust, resentment—into feelings of understanding and forgiveness for the man her father is today.

A story about addiction is no easy feat. Many times in real life, those consumed by the disease never reconcile with their loved ones. Lane created characters who were willing and able to go on the journey that follows recovery. The end of this book brought everything together in a perfectly tied gut-wrenching bow and left me staring off at nothing as I took in what Lane had just poured out onto these pages.

Temperance is for anyone who appreciates clean prose on topics that test the strength and wisdom of human nature.

An ARC was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

[Becca Baisch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been a fan of Shannon’s writing since connecting with her on social media. She announced she’d been working on a father/daughter story which intrigued me so I made sure to keep tabs on her, excited for when it would be available!

She has a clean and lovely writing style/voice that makes for an effortless read and this novel certainly met and exceeded those expectations.

The story centers on a widowed mother, Olivia, and her journey of letting her father, Charles, back into her life after a long and painful absence in which he failed to be there not only has a child but as an adult due to his alcoholism.

I thought the process of Olivia’s journey was believable in addition to Charles’ determination to prove he’d changed.

It’s a tender story with a slower pace but one that you’ll savor long after it’s over.

[Jessa LBB · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderfully told character-driven story about a father and daughter rebuilding trust after a broken relationship. Liv the MC went through a lot of growth and was a captivating character to follow. Most of her relationships each had a very different story that all seamlessly wove together into one, centring around trust and forgiveness. I loved reading this and learned a lot. 100% recommend! For those who know Lane for her romance novels - don't worry! There's a little love story in this one too!!!

[Rachs_Bookish_World · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is unlike anything I would normally read. But when Shannon asked me to ARC this I was more than happy to give it a go.
I had no idea of the emotional rollercoaster I was about to undertake. This book moved me in ways I can’t even begin to explain. And the tears I’ve shed are still staining my cheeks as I write this.
Whilst alcoholism has never effected me personally, I do know what it’s like to have an estranged parent and as such this story hit so close to home.
The highs and lows that Olivia experienced while rebuilding a relationship with her dad, and learning to trust and love again, it was unbelievably beautiful. It wasn’t all smooth sailing like some people might expect. It was a long journey but one that filled me with so many feelings.
The time and effort it took to tear down those walls that had been standing for so long, it was really beautiful to see.
Everything about this story just moved me. I feel like I can’t even put it into words properly.
All I can say is I absolutely LOVED Temperance and highly recommend it!

[Melissa Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Temperance is a wonderfully told story about forgiveness, healing, and love. The POV is of Olivia, a young mother and widower, who is estranged from her father, Charles. After almost a decade of not seeing her father due to his addiction to alcohol, Charles ends up on Olivia’s door a late night in January. From there, you move through their reconciliation and the turmoil associated with trusting someone you never could. Throughout the timeline, Olivia begins to heal from the loss of her husband, in addition to forming a new bond with her dad. The ending had me balling. The entire story felt real, raw, and very personal. Make sure you have your tissues ready.

[Madeleine Elizabeth Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are the 1/4 who have first hand experience with the conflicts presented in Shannon Lane's newest novel, I encourage to read it for the sake of experience, strength, and hope. And to know you're not alone.

[Pheraday · Rating 4 out of 5]

The pace was slow, but it was well researched. The use of sights and smells was also well done, it really put you in some of the scenes. Otherwise, the story itself was very touching. Somewhat excessive exposition, but I think that’s why the pacing was difficult for me.

[GC Annison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Description
Olivia lost her father at the age of five. Charles may be alive, but how much is an absent alcoholic father really involved in their child’s life?

Olivia has long since written her father out of her life. When her brother unexpectedly calls to tell her that their father, Charles, is out of rehab again and will be living with him, she doubts that their father has finally changed. And when Charles shows up on her doorstep that very night, Olivia just wants him gone.

Now, with her own young child to protect, Olivia struggles over whether or not she can trust that her father has changed; and if he has, whether or not she can put aside her assumptions and hurts to even give him a chance to prove it.

Disclosure
I received this Advance Reader Copy (ARC) for free from Shannon Lane, with the agreement that, in exchange, I would publish a review. This does not affect my opinion of the book, or the content of my review; the following review is unbiased, and all opinions are my own.

Review - Spoiler Free
When Shannon Lane called for ARC readers for her newest work, Temperance, I jumped on the opportunity. The contemporary genre and First Person point of view took me a bit to get into reading it, but it was worth it! This is a beautiful story of love and loss, happiness and heartache, and friendship and family.

I loved the subtle aspects of the drama in Temperance, it has a slow pace to it that helps the reader step into Olivia’s comfortably consistent life. We get to see her father try to prove his love to her, and we hope along with her that he is genuine, all while she reminds us and herself of the many hurts he has caused her. We follow along as adults learn how to live life again, and it feels like they’re navigating a second coming of age journey. And we are reminded of just how much others can affect us – for better or for worse.

I also loved the ending. Any story about a recovering alcoholic is going to be emotionally rough, and Temperance is no exception, but Lane ties it all beautifully together.

While I enjoyed many of the characters, I did struggle with consistently appreciating Olivia’s young daughter, Maisie. The story told in Temperance is a heavy, touching on hard emotions related to absent parents, broken marriages, addiction, and substance abuse. Maisie is a bright, bubbling light in it, one of the few that helps buoy up Olivia through it all. While her character and her role were definitely needed, I found myself feeling she was a little too idyllically happy. And adults repeatedly sheltered her from things that, while unpleasant, could have been explained to her adequately.

Overall, I enjoyed Shannon Lane’s Temperance. It is an emotional, heavy story about the power of our choices. I would definitely recommend this to those who enjoy contemporary fiction, and family dramas.

[Marcus · Rating 5 out of 5]

𝘐 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧.⁠
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦,⁠
𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥⁠
𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶…⁠
-𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘵 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘯⁠
⁠
A more perfect epigraph you could not hope to find to sum up the the personal journey of Olivia Clemens. It is one of triumph, tragedy, and ultimately trust as she gets reacquainted with the alcoholic father she thought she knew, introduces him to the granddaughter he never met, and tries hard to find a place for him in her life.⁠
⁠
As someone who has struggled with addiction/alcoholism—both first and secondhand—I can honestly say that this is the most authentic portrayal of the struggles involved. I loved how it provides real information about the disease woven into the plot, a plot, by the way, which surprised me in the best way. There were points where I thought I knew where things would go to find myself pleasantly wrong. It was really something surreal to experience the situation from both sides. It does a deep dig into how it starts, how it grows, how it persists, and how it affects the lives of those it touches, and that is the key to understanding it. It shows everything we risk losing because of it—our friends, our family, our ambition, our hopes, our dreams, and most importantly, ourselves. ⁠
⁠
TEMPERANCE by Shannon Lane is a heartwarming, heartbreaking, original, real, honest, insightful, emotional take on a father daughter story, personal demons, and loss. If you’re open to it, this book will stay with you. Can’t recommend it enough, especially if you too have been through this struggle on one end or the other.⁠
⁠
Read if you liked: Leaving Las Vegas, Clean and Sober, The Wrestler

[Eric Woods · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerful Story of Overcoming the Past

This is my first read from this author, and it did not disappoint! Shannon Lane tells a remarkable story about a young widowed woman (Olivia) begrudgingly reunited with her estranged father, who up to this point in her life has been an alcoholic who had distanced himself from his family. The story is powerful and an in-your-face look at the aftermath of addiction and the struggle to stay sober. Some of the scenes were a little too drawn out and descriptive, but these characters were believable and down to earth. The tumultuous relationship between Olivia and Charles kept my interest until the end.

[M.J. Carstarphen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this story in a day. Shannon Lane is fantastic at creating characters that stay with you and are relatable, and stories that tug at your heart because they're honest, and that's the sort of thing that tugs at your heart--or at least at mine. This story had all my emotions out to play, from smiles to tears. It's a beautiful, yet heartbreaking tale, about forgiveness and understanding, and it stays with you. I was a beta reader for this story, and the second I finished it, I couldn't stop thinking of it. Re-reading the final product left me feeling the same way.