“The Woman Who Came Back to Life” is by Beth Miller. In this book, we mainly follow Pearl, a woman who is living in France with her husband. Pearl learns that her father, from whom she is estranged, has died and left her - specially - a bequest. If she doesn’t appear at his funeral, she will not get the bequest and it will be destroyed. Pearl decides to attend the funeral and takes the bequest - which turns out to be a number of diaries. Long story short - without giving away some of the twists of this plot - Pearl discovers that her father wasn’t clueless about Pearl’s life - from her marriage and a sad miscarriage - and her attitude toward her father changes while reading the diaries. There are a number of side stories about family, discovering happiness, dealing with the past, and learning to let go (and dealing with) difficult issues.

I found this book to be a slow leisurely paced one. There are a number of Pearl’s father’s diary entries from the past interwoven into the story. A few chapters are from other character’s views, but pretty quickly which character is speaking is easy to keep apart. I found this book trying to cover a lot that at times it seemed a bit too “busy” but it does all work out in the end. I found a few things to be a bit frustrating - such as why Pearl’s step-mother and step-sister insist upon having the diaries and why did Pearl’s brother offer to destroy them if Pearl didn’t want them? [In hindsight, I think this concern is addressed, with outside perceptions apparently being important to the step-mother and step-sister.]

This is the first book I’ve read by Ms. Miller and while it didn’t blow me away, it was a solidly written book, and I’ll check out her other books to see if those interest me as well. 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.