Searching for a vintage wedding dress uncovers painful secrets

Despite having a swathe of bestsellers under her hat, this is my first time reading anything from Rachael Johns’ vivid imagination. As a romantic at heart, just the quote prior to the first chapter was enough to draw me in… 

“A man is lucky if he is the first love of a woman.
A woman is lucky if she is the last love of a man.”

Lost Without You, is a novel set around four intertwined stories – four very different women who become connected through a variety of ways – and mostly because of one much-loved wedding dress.

Firstly, we’re introduced to Rebecca, a fifty-something happily married piano teacher with one daughter who suddenly finds herself tackling the biggest battle of her life when she’s diagnosed with a rare and potentially fatal disease. Deep inside she’s also harbouring a long-held secret that potentially has the ability to pull her family apart.

Then there’s Clara, a divorced nurse, with an ex who still doesn’t understand she has moved on with her life while living with the terrible grief that comes from losing her only child – a sorrow that hasn’t eased over the years. She’s the favourite aunt of a host of nieces and nephews – the offspring of her four almost identical sisters, but nothing can ease that terrible ache.

Next comes Josie, whose former career as a club singer gave way to teaching at a local high school. Her aircraft engineer husband, Nik, leaves her alone for weeks at a time while working overseas and, unfortunately, on far too many occasions her closest companion becomes a bottle of wine – or two – as well as becoming reacquainted with those small, white nicotine cylinders. Several distressing miscarriages and a loathing of her body are the catalysts for her desperate slide into oblivion.

And finally, there’s Paige, Rebecca’s only child and an upcoming children’s author who has just become engaged to Solomon, a Sydney firefighter. The mother and daughter share a close relationship, so when Rebecca is suddenly diagnosed with a critical illness, the family’s future is thrown into a whole new realm filled with uncertainty and fear.

Clara is assigned to Rebecca’s care, and watching the family together, she gains a whole new perspective on life and the futility of useless things cluttering up her world. Within hours she goes on a rampage of change to all areas of her life, including adding her name to a dating site.

The underlying impetus in bringing all these diverse women together is an eighties-style wedding dress that once belonged to Rebecca and the storyline woven around it provides a delightful tale of life in all of its facets – both good and bad, the happy and sad, waves of anger and disdain, celebrations, tragedies, fears, secrets and lies, through women and men discovering things about themselves or their partners in ways they never expected.

Lost Without You is easy to read and with characters who draw you into their particular dilemma.  It is a beautifully written work of fiction, sure to have readers hooked within the first few chapters as all these individual though tangled stories unfold – and with far-reaching consequences for each one of them.  

Congratulations, Rachael Johns, on a delightful glimpse into the life of families and friends who come together in the most unexpected ways.

Lost Without You, by Rachael Johns, is available in printed or digital editions from the publisher HQ Fiction.