What Could Be Saved

A Novel

By: Liese O'Halloran Schwarz

Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan

When a mysterious man claims to be her long-missing brother, a woman must confront her family’s closely guarded secrets in this “delicious hybrid of mystery, drama, and elegance” (Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author).

Washington, DC, 2019: Laura Preston is a reclusive artist at odds with her older sister Beatrice as their elegant, formidable mother slowly slides into dementia. When a stranger contacts Laura claiming to be her brother who disappeared forty years earlier when the family lived in Bangkok, Laura ignores Bea’s warnings of a scam and flies to Thailand to see if it can be true. But meeting him in person leads to more questions than answers.

Bangkok, 1972: Genevieve and Robert Preston live in a beautiful house behind a high wall, raising their three children with the help of a cadre of servants. In these exotic surroundings, Genevieve strives to create a semblance of the life they would have had at home in the US—ballet and riding classes for the children, impeccable dinner parties, a meticulously kept home. But in truth, Robert works for American intelligence, Genevieve finds herself drawn into a passionate affair with her husband’s boss, and their serene household is vulnerable to unseen dangers in a rapidly changing world and a country they don’t really understand.

Alternating between past and present as all of the secrets are revealed, What Could Be Saved is an unforgettable novel about a family broken by loss and betrayal, and “a richly imagined page-turner that delivers twists alongside thought-provoking commentary” (Kirkus Reviews).

Could Have Been 5 Stars

I would have highly recommended this book but there were a couple scenes unnecessary to the story that seemed to be placed there just to promote the author’s view of same sex relationships. That part was disappointing. The rest of the book was beautifully written. It held my interest, was beautiful, sad, terrible, surprising, and memorable with a mostly happy ending.

Riveting, Deep and Disturbing

This was an absolutely fascinating book with very interesting character development. Sometimes the narrative was a bit drawn out for me but overall for its psychological lessons it was very good!

intrigued from start to finish,

interesting characters, cultural insight, captured the cold war era and attitudes of the united states, the american sense of superiority. a well woven tale both past and present. good performance as well.

Hidden Gem

I couldn't stop listening! I was actually seeing the story in my head. The narrator was excellent. The story proves the saying, money can't buy happiness.

Tries too hard

I didn’t like the characters, felt the story tried too hard to touch on too many issues, and missed the mark.