‘For anyone who has ever lost, longed, or held on when letting go felt impossible.
Inspired by her own experience, This Wasn’t Meant to Happen
is Ali Harris’s exploration of grief and recovery’
[ About This Wasn’t Meant to Happen ]
This wasn’t meant to happen. But it did.
Sofie Jensen has always lived by logic — calculating risk, staying in control, believing that if she did everything right, life would follow the rules. But nothing could prepare her for the unimaginable: the stillbirth of her baby boy.
Now, grief carves a hollow space where joy once lived, and love — so fierce, so fragile — teeters on the edge. Nothing adds up anymore. Not the life she had. Not the future she imagined.
[ My Review ]
This Wasn’t Meant to Happen by Ali Harris publishes September 11th with One More Chapter and is described as ‘a searing but beautiful portrait of love, grief and the tender, complicated path back to hope….told with quiet strength and breathtaking honesty’.
There is no way to escape the pain and grief that is expressed with such raw honesty in this novel. Although a fictional story, it is based on the personal experiences of Ali Harris. As she says in her own words – ‘this isn’t a story about death, but about what survives.’ Ali Harris’s intimate journey following the stillbirth of Poppy, her third child, is laid bare through her personal accounts in the media and on her Instagram page. Following Poppy’s death, Ali took a step back from her writing career but, as time passed, she came to the realisation that the conversation around baby loss was very much hidden in the shadows and she wanted to start one herself. She wanted to write a book where the loss of a baby was the central line of the story, ‘the heartbeat of the story’, in the hope that other women would recognise themselves and their experiences and step forward, unashamedly owning their own personal story.
Human beings struggle to deal with grief and, in particular, the grief of others. Having a conversation with a parent who has suffered the tragic loss of a baby is one many of us choose to shy away from. In writing This Wasn’t Meant to Happen Ali Harris is shining a light on the devastation and trauma of baby loss in this most honest and compassionate novel. As we meet Sophie and Rory we travel the road with them as their lives get ripped apart. Strangely enough, there is an element of faith throughout, a sense of beauty and through the power of the sea and family, there is peace.
Following the tragic death of her father in her teens, Sophie made a decision to live a safe life. She stepped away from all the outdoor activities she loved and took a secure job in insurance. She also decided that children were not for her, another risk she was not willing to take. When she met Rory, she was initially hesitant of his personality. Rory was a local TV celebrity, known for his positivity and lust for life. He saw the good in everyone and everything, always bursting with hope and joy. On paper Sophie and Rory were not a match but Rory was persistent and, in time, Sophie began to let her guard down.
Soon married, with a beautiful home and good career prospects, Sophie was relatively content with her life. Rory occasionally brought up the possibility of them trying for a baby but Sophie always dismissed it, the risk was too great. But life, as we know, has many twists and turns and when Sophie had a positive pregnancy test, her reticence soon turned to joy and excitement. She made plans with Rory for their new family of three with Sophie delighted to have been shown another way of living, in a more positive and carefree style.
When the most unbearable tragedy occurs and they lose their little baby boy, their world implodes. They both deal with the enormity of their grief in different ways pulling them apart causing fractures in their relationship. As time passes these fractures further develop leading them both down two very different paths. Can their relationship survive?
With a storyline that has a very emotional punch, Ali Harris spares nothing for her readers. It is a stunning and authentic portrait of parental grief but it is also a story of resilience. Sophie and Rory have to find themselves first and foremost in order to move forward but it proves very challenging. Their struggle and their fears are beautifully depicted and, as a reader, there is that longing for a loving resolution for them both. This Wasn’t Meant to Happen is a courageously written book. It is so very very sad but dare I say also a hopeful and very vital read.
[Thank you to Laura Sherlock for a copy of This Wasn’t Meant to Happen in exchange for my honest review ]
[ Bio ]
Ali Harris lives in Cambridge with her husband and three children. She has a degree in Performing Arts and cites theatre as her third love – after her family and books. There’s not a musical she’s seen (and she’s seen many!) that she hasn’t loved.
Prior to having children, Ali was a journalist and wrote for a variety of women’s magazines including Glamour, Cosmo, Red, Stylist and ELLE.
She is the author of three previous novels, including Sunday Times bestsellers Miracle on Regent Street and The First Last Kiss, as well as Written In The Stars. This Wasn’t Meant to Happen was written after a prolonged break following the loss of her baby girl, late in pregnancy.
