No More Words: A Novel

Written by Kerry Lonsdale

Narrated by Susannah Jones

From the Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author comes the first book in a trilogy about love, betrayal, and the secrets families keep.

Forced to choose between abortion or adoption, Olivia Carson’s younger sister, Lily, runs away from home. Sixteen and pregnant, she never returns. But she writes. Once a year, Lily mails a picture of her son, Josh, to Olivia until his thirteenth year. Then it’s Josh himself who arrives at Olivia’s house, alone, terrified, and in possession of a notarized declaration from Lily. It begins, “In the event I go missing…”

Josh has difficulty talking. He can’t read or write, but he’s a prolific artist, exhibiting skill beyond his age. His drawings are as detailed as they are horrific. Olivia soon realizes Josh’s artwork tells a story. There’s more to his arrival and to Lily’s untimely disappearance than it seems. Using the drawings as a road map, Olivia traces Josh’s path back to his mom. Each drawing sheds light on Lily’s past and reveals a darkness that forces Olivia to question everything she thought she knew about her family.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Jul 6, 2021
• ISBN: 9781713559573

Kerry Lonsdale

Kerry Lonsdale is the Wall Street Journal and #1 Amazon Kindle bestselling author of Everything We Keep and All the Breaking Waves. She resides in Northern California with her husband and two children. Learn more about Kerry at www.kerrylonsdale.com.

Reviews for No More Words

[faith · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I absolutely loved this book!! What a wild ride!! I read No More Words in less than a day and half! Couldn't put it down!

[grandmacootie · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I don’t know where author Kerry Lonsdale comes up with these amazing, unique ideas for each and every new book, but I hope she never runs out of them. The title of this book may be No More Words, but Kerry Lonsdale has great words and she builds great pictures with them. Words and pictures that are strong, powerful, and carefully chosen, expertly put together to craft another riveting story.The story begins in 1995 with the Carson family – dysfunctional as they come. Parents Charlotte and Dwight treat their children Olivia, Lucas and Lily as more bothersome possessions than treasured, well-loved family. The bright spot of the year is when the children stay at the lake with family friends each summer. Those parents are caring and the Carson children feel welcome; their son Blaze and Olivia grow close as they grow up.But, trite as it sounds, all good things must come to an end and events occur that put a stop to those special summers with the Whitmans. Life at the Carson house gets worse. Lucas is constantly in trouble, serious trouble. Because of the difference in their ages Olivia and Lily were never close, but now it seems Lily is going out of her way to make Olivia’s life difficult. So Olivia and Lily fight, Lucas acts out and their parents’ behavior borders on scandalous. Everyone grows apart, Olivia retreats into herself.When Lily is 16 she becomes pregnant but refuses to tell her parents who the father is, so they give her a choice: abortion or adoption. And one day she’s just not there anymore. Olivia is a little sad that her sister is gone, but family life stinks anyway and face it, things are easier without Lily around messing with her stuff and getting on her father’s nerves.Fast forward to the present. Olivia and Blaze are a couple, kind of, but she’s not looking for commitment; she has no dreams of that perfect picket-fence life. The Carsons have drifted apart and no one seems to really care. Olivia has received a letter from Lily with a picture of her son Josh every year except this one, but as with everything else in her life, Olivia is ambivalent. Doesn’t try to find Lily or make any connections.So far so good. A solid story about a family. How things that happened in the past affected the present. Full of tension, sadness, very little hope.And then one day a car drives up to Olivia’s house and Josh gets out. Wow. Not only is this the kid she’s received a photo of every year for the past 13 years, but he’s all alone. How did he get here? Why is he here? Well, those are good questions – and – Josh can’t answer them very satisfactorily, because he apparently recently suffered a head injury and has aphasia, a residual effect of brain trauma injury that affects speech, reading, and writing. But he can draw. Boy, can he draw. So he communicates a bit that way. And while rooting around in his backpack trying to figure out what’s going on Olivia finds a letter to her from Lily that begins, “In the event I go missing ...” Olivia feels a strong, strong connection to this boy, her nephew. She didn’t want to, doesn’t know where it’s coming from, but she is determined to do everything she can to find his mother, to find her sister Lily.With that the story is transformed and we are transported into a world of mystery, suspense, secrets, betrayals, danger, hope, love, and family. The action switches back and forth between 1995 at the lake and the present hunt for Lily, each jump revealing a little more about who was up to what, what really happened, how things weren’t at all what they seemed.No More Words is full of unimaginable events that author Lonsdale makes believable, full of deep, well-drawn characters that are irritating, intriguing, easy to understand and unable to fathom. The plot moves smoothly and quickly, explaining the present through the past, keeping you turning pages and on the edge of your seat because bad things have happened and they are still happening. The locations are so vividly described that you are in the story, fully immersed.You will root for Olivia, for her to open up, to trust, to let that spark that wants to turn into a blaze with Blaze happen. And for Josh, you will be so full of feelings you will hardly be able to contain them. He’s bright, artistic, sweet, troubled, impatient with his disability – and a son who needs his mother.Thanks to the author and Lake Union Publishing for providing an advanced copy of No More Words via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. This is another finely crafted, complex, satisfying, outstanding book by an outstanding author who is always at the top of my TBR stack. I thoroughly enjoyed No More Words, could not put it down, recommend it without hesitation and am eagerly awaiting the next two books in this trilogy.

[susan0316 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I've read every book that Kerry Lonsdale has written and she just keeps getting better. No More Words is the first book in a trilogy about family and love but most of all it's about secrets and how the past affects the future.The novel begins in the Summer of '95 when the three Carson children get dropped off at the lake home of the Whitman family. At the time Olivia is 8, Lucas is 6 and Lily is 3. Summers at the lake are idyllic and the children spend all of their time outside enjoying the freedom and the time they spend together. Years later when they are adults, the fun that they had together as children is gone and they are no longer close. Olivia is an artist, Josh has spent time in prison and Lily has run away and no one has heard from her in years. This is book 1 in a new trilogy and is Olivia's story.Olivia is a well known illustrator and is afraid to get close to anyone emotionally. Josh is a 13 year old boy who turns up at her house and she is shocked to find out that he is her nephew. Lily got pregnant at 15 and when her parent's insisted either an abortion or an adoption, she ran away and no one in the family knows where she is. Once a year she sends Olivia a letter with a picture of Josh but that is the only contact that they've had over the years. Josh is terrified when he gets to Olivia's but due to a recent accident and aphasia - he is often unable to find the right words to use and is no longer able to read or write. He isn't able to tell Olivia what happened to his mom except that she is gone! Josh is an artist beyond his years and Olivia attempts to find out what happened to her sister by using Josh's drawings as a road map. The more that she tries to help Josh, the more she learns about her family that make her question everything that they had ever told her. Will Olivia somehow be able to find Ivy so that the three siblings can become a family again?Warning - before you start this book, make sure that your calendar is clear because I can guarantee that you won't want to put it down until the end. I can't wait to read the next two books in the series to find out more about Olivia, Josh and ivy and their quest to become family again.Thanks to the author and net galley for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.