When he loses his wife in a terrible accident, Luke tries to find closure, by helping Helen's mysterious online friend. Orla has done a good job of hiding herself away from the world; so good in fact, that she may never have to see another person again.

I received a free copy from the publisher and Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

After he loses his wife Helen in a train accident, Luke struggles to go on. He feels smothered by everyone's pity and good intentions; and plagued by the thought that Helen wasn't as happy as she made out.
After discovering that her passion for photography had grown from a hobby to a professional ambition, one that was sadly never achieved; Luke decides to reach out to the mysterious BB, Helen's online friend and fellow-photographer.

Orla is a hermit, hidden in a remote castle. Since she moved there two years ago, she's hid behind the walls and refused to see anyone. Scared of people in general after a vicious acid attack that left her scarred for life, she finds beauty in broken porcelain, and has quite the online following.
When Luke shows up on her doorstep, she begrudgingly starts to accept the outside world; and in return she can hopefully help heal Luke.

I loved the setting in this book - the castle and the Suffolk countryside are as important as any character in the story.
It really is beautifully written and easy to read, despite the dark parts of Orla and Luke's history being the factor that brings them together.
I liked Orla's passion for photography, and her interest in how damage gives a history to delicate and beautiful porcelain.

There is a real emphasis on the importance of friends. I thought it was refreshing that the story remained focussed on the pure friendship that existed between Orla and Luke, and the rest of the villagers.

The not-so-good.
Unfortunately, I wasn't a fan of Luke. As someone who is a complete introvert, and struggles to deal with social situations, I personally thought he was a bit of a dick in how he kept pushing Orla and not taking no for an answer.
Luke is using this jaunt away from home to hide from reality, so I thought he should have some empathy for Orla. He's constantly trying to push her to make huge leaps, because he knows best. I honestly wanted Orla to throw a teapot at him.

Overall, this was a 3.5 out of 5 for me. I liked the author's writing and would be interested in reading more of her work.

Wow, what a beautifully written book. I was engrossed throughout, the characters were wonderful and so was the backdrop. It was such a heartbreaking read at times but nonetheless a wonderful journey to be on. I think it showed that life can still be worth it after losing someone and that that person will always be with you no matter what. I absolutely loved this book.

The Beauty of Broken Things is an emotional read that will bring tears to your eyes. It tackles the tough subjects of depression and grief, but it's written in a beautiful way. It's powerful. It's heartwarming. And readers will be rooting for Orla and Luke and their budding friendship along the way.
Luke is a man struggling to cope with the loss of his wife, Helen, who was working on becoming a full-time photographer. Orla is a recluse who uses broken ceramics to make beautiful photos. Both she and Helen were online friends, bonded through their love of photography. After Helen dies, Luke finds a gift Helen wanted to deliver to Orla, so he decides to track her down and deliver it himself. It's this decision that sets off the beginning of their friendship and sets the tone for the rest of the story.
I really enjoyed the characters and the writing. Everything sort of just hits you right in the feels while reading, but that's a good thing.
If you're looking for a well-written, emotional read, give The Beauty of Broken Things a chance.
4 stars!

The beauty of Broken Things is a heartwarming story of two people who have both experienced bad things in their lifes but since meeting each other have started to heal.Orla and Luke live not more than 3 miles from each other and only have a connection on social media. Luke's wife has passed away unexpectedly and Orla is a recluse living in total isolation.
The connection is through Orla and Helen (Luke' wife). Helen followed Orla's account and they became friends without even knowing each others name. Luke decides to find Orla and we find that Orla loves beautiful things that have imperfections, the real beauty of broken things.
The story unfolds and eventually Orla retellls the origin of just why she is the isolated recluse she is. This book is uplifting and sad at the same time for me, this immersive story had me in tears. A gorgeous ending for a beautifully written book. With thanks to Rachels Random Resources for letting me be a part of this uplifting and heartwarming books Blog Tour and Net galley for the ARC

This isn't the first novel I've read by Victoria Conelly, and I must say, I loved this book even more than the previous ones I have read. I enjoyed every book I have read by this author, so far, but this one took me to a different mind set, a thought provoking story really.

A beautiful story that follows Luke Hansard and Orla Kendrick, through a journey of connecting with other, going through grief, and finally getting some much needed healing done. Both characters were very realistic, and despite the fact that I have not went through the same tribulation as they did, I still found myself feeling empathy and understanding them.

There are so many details in this story that make it so special. From the characters' past, their struggles, their emotional state, their goals, their connection... From the descriptions, the narrative, the dialogues... From the images and the feelings behind the scenes... There was a lot that caught my attention, and that made it possible for me to get a big picture of the story.

Overall, I couldn't put it down, it was late night and I was still reading. I was captivated by the heartwarming story that made me emotional, as well as wondering about life. About Luke and Orla's lives. The hope and love in the pages. The friendship and the strength.

[I want to thank Rachel, at Rachel’s Random Resources, and Victoria Connelly for the eCopy of this book, via NetGalley, and for allowing me to join in the fun and being a part of the blog tour with my honest review of the book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.]

<b><i>People need people. We’re not made to isolate ourselves.</i></b>

How fitting is that quote, right now!? A couple of my GoodReads friends read and enjoyed this book. It was actually their reviews that made me want to read it. I am so glad I took a chance. Thank you so much to both JEN A and Shalini for your wonderful, inspiring reviews. This is why I love GoodReads so much.

This story gave me a deep emotional connection. The journey through time and people weaves a complex path, but one that is ultimately unifying. It's an emotional meandering, much like life itself. The novel takes us through ups and downs, possibilities and disappointments, calling on us to reassess what we think we know about our own lives and how we engage with those we hold most dear.

Thought-evoking and expertly written, The Beauty of Broken Things is far more than a simple story. It invokes such feeling and emotion that, whilst hard to put down, causes the reader to pause and reflect for themselves. What an amazing, emotional, powerful book this is. Wonderfully written, it was simply a pleasure to read that will make you smile, laugh and cry.

This was an amazing read full of emotion that was a mix of heartbreaking storylines but with a glimpse of something better in the future.

The main characters are Orla and Luke, they don’t know each other. It is only when Luke checks his wife’s phone that he discovers she was friends with someone called BB. Helen and BB had an online friendship and an interest in photography. It is through the photographs that Luke is able to track down BB and discover who BB is.

Orla is a recluse, she lives in a castle. She doesn’t speak to anyone, she won't answer the door and she only goes out to walk her dog on a close-by beach. He withdrawal from people is a sad story and it explains why her only presence is online with her photography.

The link between the Orla and Luke is Helen, a woman who had wanted to live life through her photography but settles for a job that pays the bills. It is when she decides that she and Luke are secure enough for her to finally take the chance and change her career. This is when tragedy strikes and her life is cut short.

The story is sad and there where many times I had tears and was just able to keep them at bay. There was a simple line in the story that broke me though and it was such a simple and yet poignant one “She left the world with a smile,” at the end of chapter 6. It summed up how Helen saw life.

The story that followed was about how Luke and Orla gradually become friends, one helping the other to overcome grief and pain. Challenging each other to take steps, but while one of them is taking steps forward the other is in denial and hides the grief. It is a story about things happening when it is time for them and when you are ready to face them. Grief and tragedy cannot be measured and categorised into simple stages with a time limit on each stage.

This is a stunning read and one that I read in one sitting. It is emotional as the author takes the reader into the lives of two people that have had two very different things happen to them. Even though these events are different they still have to go through similar processes of acceptance. While reading the story I was willing the two main characters forward, but I also knew that there would be setbacks.

A fabulous story that I thoroughly enjoyed, heartwarming and emotional as well as one of hope. The title is just perfect and it fits so wonderfully with the story. I would definitely recommend The Beauty of Broken Things.

Powerful and emotional. Victoria Connelly gave me all the feels with this spellbinding story. This was a beautiful story about grief and healing. Luke is devastated after his beloved wife Helen dies. When he runs across an item Helen had for an online friend Orla, he is determined to get it to her. Orla is living an isolated life in a remote castle. She has been scarred both inside and out and is content with her solitary existence. When Luke meets Orla he is determined to help her heal, and in doing so perhaps he will heal himself.

A touching story infused with a great deal of heart and hope. Both Luke and Orla were very sympathetic characters and I wanted them to heal themselves. Find the silver lining, if you will. I loved the strong friendship that grew between Luke and Orla. I was really hoping this book did not take a certain direction and so thrilled when it didn’t. This is a book that will make you feel, so be sure to have that box of Kleenex handy.

*** Big thank you to Lake Union for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***

I liked the sound of the title and hence picked it up to read. Once you get over the absurdity of letting a stranger in your life in such an abrupt manner, the story is interesting. There were many parts of the story which I found myself getting annoyed with Luke and thought I would react in aa different manner to Olga however the main outline of the story was quite beautiful.

I already knew Victoria Connelly wrote beautifully – but I really didn’t know she could write this beautifully. This book was stunning – not a romance, conventional or otherwise, but overflowing with love. The first chapter lulls you into a false sense of security, perhaps making you feel that you know what is to come – then something happens that turns the whole book into something entirely different.

It becomes a portrait of two damaged people – not just damaged, more like broken – and the extraordinary support they give to each other as they make their tentative steps towards recovery. As a portrait of Luke’s loss and grief, it makes you ache inside – I shed tears in the second chapter, and they most certainly weren’t the last. And then there’s Orla – isolated by choice in her castle home, seeing no-one, only venturing outside into her secluded garden or to the deserted nearby beach with her dog, collecting the damaged pieces of beautiful china that arrive in regularly delivered parcels, posting her wonderful photographs on the Galleria website.

And that’s how she “met’ Luke’s wife Helen – a shared love of photography and accompanying words that built into an on-line friendship and a mutual affection. Helen left her a gift, and Luke feels so driven by the need to fulfil her wishes and place it in her hands that he tracks Orla down through a series of small clues in her photographs. In very slow steps, they begin to find comfort in each other’s presence, as builder Luke carries out repairs to her home – but it’s a very long way to any possibility of “and they both lived happily ever after”, as the author tracks the way that Luke’s grief ebbs and flows, and Orla’s steady unfurling sometimes falters. I won’t explain Orla’s love for damaged and broken things – but when her story emerges, shared with Luke in a scene etched permanently in my memory, the parallels and symbolism become evident (and rather perfect).

Although the book deals very realistically with the extremes of grief, there’s nothing mawkish or depressing about it – it’s heartwarming, uplifting, sometimes positively joyous, full of hope, with a real lightness in many of their interactions, and some nice touches of humour. It’s a book of “moments”, all exquisitely drawn, as both Orla and Luke continue their healing process. It’s an unexpectedly compelling read too – particularly when the author introduces a very real threat, an edge of danger with the potential to reverse all the progress they’ve made.

The book’s primary focus is on its two main characters, and that’s as it should be – but there are a small few others, wonderfully drawn, part of the healing process, each growing increasingly nuanced and rounded as Orla begins to re-enter the world. And the vividness of the book’s setting is exceptional – the castle itself almost becomes a third main character, the Suffolk countryside and coastline and the surrounding communities beautifully drawn.

I adored this book – I read it in a single sitting, totally unable to tear myself away from the characters, emotionally engaged to the very last page. And the ending was beautiful, totally right for the story, and perfectly judged – it filled me with joy, and then I set the book aside and cried again. Don’t miss this one – a very special book indeed, and an exceptionally talented author.

(Review copied to Amazon UK, but link not yet available)

I must confess to having only read one of Victoria Connelly's novels before: A Weekend with Mr Darcy, which I loved. The Beauty of Broken Things is really quite different though. I was drawn in by the synopsis, which tells us we have two characters who have had very different experiences of life but have caused them each to break in their own way.

Luke Hansard's whole world came tumbling down the day his wife didn't make it home from work. In his 30s and already a widower, he doesn't know how to move on with his life without his beloved wife Helen. His days are spent going over the 'what ifs' as he struggles to come to terms with his loss. In a bid to stay close to his lost wife, Luke seeks out an online friend of hers, someone he knows Helen was keen to help. By helping this person that Helen so clearly wanted to support, he hopes to stay close to his wife while providing assistance to someone who may need it.

Orla Kendrick is a recluse, living alone in her Suffolk castle, hidden from the world. Her physical and emotional scars cause her to live in constant fear, and so instead she lives her life online, through her beautiful photographs of broken and damaged china. She is desperate to remain closed off from the world, so when Luke finds her, a stranger who claims his wife knows her, she panics and attempts to withdraw once more.

Both Luke and Orla are damaged and hurt in their own ways, but they have a common link: Helen. Whilst Orla may not have physically met her, they had connected online in a way that Orla had not expected to do. So when Luke arrives to personally deliver the news of Helen's death, Orla is blindsided. Even within the protective walls of her castle, she is not immune to what happens in the outside world. Luke on the other hand is struggling with his grief, and is therefore looking for something to channel his time and energy into. What he finds in Orla is unexpected. He finds a woman who is fearful of everything, and whilst he understands her reasons why, he seeks to help her realise that life cannot be feared if you really want to live.

This is such a beautiful novel. It was unexpected and yet wonderful to read a novel that focussed on a friendship, however unlikely, between a man and a woman who both just needed someone to guide them through their own darkness. Luke and Orla should never have met, and yet their own tragic circumstances drew them together at a time when they both really needed someone.

I am very happy to recommend The Beauty of Broken Things. It highlights experiences that sadly do happen, (Orla's is an experience that no person should ever have to go through, but sadly it is something we are now hearing about more and more in the press) but it shows that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, particularly if you are willing to let someone in to help guide you there. Orla and Luke were both wonderful characters, with excellent character arcs. They were both believable and relatable. Victoria Connelly has done an excellent job of highlighting that the journey to peace is just as important as the destination.

A heart wrenching, broken into a million pieces, book yet so beautifully heart warming, join those pieces back together. This was one of a kind. Author Victoria Connelly's words had emotions seeped into it where every broken thing had an alluring beauty. Damaged souls healed together in the plot by the strength of the tapestry that weaved them together by the author. The prose left me awed.

Luke lost his wife Helen in a train accident, and Orla had a secret haunted past. Both Helen and Orla followed each other on the photography app Galleria. Helen had bought a gift for Orla, and Luke brought it to the old castle that Orla resided in. This was their journey of healing and finding life's simple joys.

My first book by this author, and WOW!! My breath got caught in my chest when emotions choked me. The two characters, struck down by life and its sudden incidents, had me longing to hug them. There was pain in their voices, I hoped they would heal soon. Landscapes lyrically described, the other characters brought out the gentleness of the story. Each page added to the richness of the plot, an understanding to life.

The author's brilliant hand with the warmth in the story brought me nearly to tears while making me smile. Every moment spent in the book was a journey into the beauty of broken things.

Simply brilliant.

A beautiful magical story which had me captivated the whole way through. I loved the characters and the setting and the whole story which I will remember for a long time.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Grief affects people in different ways, and after the death of his wife, Helen, Luke wants to connect with one of her online friends, an artist who makes beautiful objects out of broken things. But Orla does not want to be found, she lives in a crumbling castle in Suffolk, safe from her own painful past. Luke wants to urge Orla back into the real world, just as Helen was trying to do before she died. But Orla loves her life and sees no reason to change it. I loved this story about the loss of a loved one and the different ways that people heal, it’s absolutely beautiful

Oh Victoria Connolly, I cannot put into words how deeply I fell in love with Luke and Orla.

I read far into the night as I followed these two beautiful lost souls on a magical journey which transported me to a remote Suffolk castle and introduced me to some very memorable characters.

This is a gentle unfolding story of heartbreak, grief, friendship and ultimately hope which really pulled at my heart strings.

Luke is devastated by the sudden loss of his wife in a tragic train accident. In retrospect he feels he never acknowledged Helen's intrinsic goodness, her needs and her desires and only on her death he discovers little at a time that she had interests which she did not share with him purely because he did not give any indication he was interested.

Orla lives alone and isolated by choice on a remote castle in Suffolk. She has been disfigured in a revenge attack and has since then hidden from society, surviving alone but fearful for her life.

When Luke decides to visit Orla he did not know what was in store for him, he was following one of Helen's last wishes to deliver a birthday present for Orla and to help Orla in her distress, even though she did not know what Orla's situation was.

The story takes off from that point when the two eventually meet and how Luke persuades Orla to step back into the real world and meet and interact with people. Both begin to heal only when they help each other to come to terms with their past.

The story is an emotional one, descriptive of the Suffolk region as well and a gentle and quiet read.

The Beauty of Broken Things is a fascinating story about unimaginable suffering and heartbreaking grief.

Helen and Orla were cyber friends on an app called Galleria, an Instagram of sorts focused on artistic pictures.

Despite never having met in real life, the two women shared a genuine love for photography and became very close.

When Helen died in a train crash, her husband, Luke, found a gift Helen had bought for Orla and decided to deliver it in person. He did not expect to find out his wife's friend was a recluse living isolated in an old castle.

The story is very touching. Orla suffered significant trauma and retreated from the world. Luke's broken heart could reach her in ways that others could not.

What started as an awkward meeting evolved into a lovely friendship. Two people in their lowest low sticking together and helping each other.

The little coastal town of Lorford was a picturesque setting, and the side characters were adorable. My favorite was One Ear, the dog.

The heaviness of the theme was lightened by the sense of community and friendship. The book focuses on the characters' achievements, and the bonds created rather than their pain.

The Beauty of Broken things is an inspiring and captivating read.

Disclosure: I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

*This review will be posted on https://lureviewsbooks.com on 05/22/2020 as part of the book's blog tour*

What a delightful book! I devoured this in 2 days.

Luke, is getting over the tragic loss of his young wife Helen, he is trying to keep her memory alive and he tracks down an online friend of Helen's . She (Orla) too is getting over a horrific acid attack and is hiding out at a remote castle in Suffolk. Luke arrives there after tracking her down through photographs online, but she is somewhat of a recluse. She is an ex model, now into photography and she takes photos of broken things; china cups, vases.

They do become friends but it how they get there that is really nice and sensitive.

I rated it 5 stars and loved it!

Wow oh wow, how have I not read anything by this author before? I don't know how any review I write for this will do it justice. Connelly is a new author for me, this being my first read- definitely won't be the last. I will be eagerly adding more to my TBR.
This is a beautifully written story which is easy to relate to. I have found this to be both heart warming and uplifting. The author has captivated me from the very first page and I feel as though I've just watched a Netflix film rather than read a book. That's how clear a picture this author has created. This was hard to put down, I found myself completely immersed in this story.
This is definitely a five star book for me. The characters are fantastic, the plot flows at the appropriate pace. This is definitely one which I feel should be on everyone's TBR. It has definitely lifted my mood and I cannot wait to read more.

Public links to follow on blog tour.

I have enjoyed several books by Victoria Connelly. The Beauty of Broken Things is no exception. The book is a lovely journey to healing and redemption told through the lives of Luke who lost his beloved wife, and Orla who has survived her own tragedies. Luke’s wife followed Orla online on a site called Galleria, a site where people could upload images. Orla uses it to upload pictures of broken but beautiful items. Luke decides he must notify Orla directly of his wife’s death, after discovering his wife was enamored of Orla’s site. Orla has hidden from the world for a reason and is less than pleased with Luke’s showing up. However they find that maybe they have more in common than they thought and grief and healing does not have to be solitary.

I really enjoyed this novel, it was a gentle novel that was a joy to read during trying and stressful times. Sometimes one needs to escape ones own life and troubles. This book fit the bill. If you have never read a book from Victoria Connelly I highly recommend this one.

Thanks to Netgalley, Amazon publishing and Victoria Connelly for a free copy of this book to review.