Molly Bell and the Wishing Well

Molly Bell is an eleven-year old girl who used to be a whimsical, sporty type of a child with a zest for living. All that has been turned upside down by the untimely death of her cherished mother two years ago. To make matters worse, her father is getting remarried to a high-maintenance beauty that Molly seemingly has nothing in common with, and she comes with an annoying six-year old son, Henry, who finds a way to wreck everything in his path. Molly can't find anything about her new circumstances to be excited about, until her Aunt Joan tells her about the wishing well at Molly's grandparents' farm. According to Aunt Joan, every wish she ever made there came true. And it just so happens that Molly and Henry will be staying at the farm for a week while their parents are on their honeymoon. Molly is convinced if she could just find that wishing well, she could wish for her mom to come back to life and everything will be okay again. But Molly is in for a few surprises, and more that a few hard lessons about being careful what you wish for when the consequences of Molly's selfish desires wreak havoc on her entire family. Can Molly make things right again through the wishing well? Or will she need to find it within herself to bring back the joy in her life that has been missing all this time?

Molly Bell and the Wishing Well is available for purchase in both print and ebook formats.

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From a psychological point of view I felt Geraghty did a remarkable job trying to capture the grief process as a child would go through with it showcasing her focusing on mundane tasks and trying to behave impeccably as if her late mother was watching over her. I’ve generally seen that attitude or the full act out, trying to burn the world down path. The author kept Molly’s life, motivations, wishes and outcomes simple as if giving her space and peace to figure out how she was going to navigate this new world that no longer contained her mother in a gentle manner. Sometimes when you’ve been walking around, even subconsciously, in a mental fog it only takes one event to snap out of the reverie as she showed Molly doing so that she finally came to a place of acceptance.

I adored Geraghty’s characters, how they fit into Molly’s life and shaped her journey particularly since the author made them each seem realistic and necessary to the story. I liked how she shaped the characters into being people the reader can invest in and for kids they’ll find characters they can see themselves in.

You are treated to a descriptive tale of Molly’s emotions which make the story come alive and your heart will ache as she seemingly has to go at this alone because her friends abandon her. I would hope if children read this and they have a friend who loses someone they will remember this story and know how to be a better friend.

I think it’s a good story to help children understand they are not alone in the grief process and maybe to understand it a bit. There are a lot of positive themes regarding overcoming grief, keeping hope and accepting the changes life brings.

I can see how some might have trouble with the way the grief process was portrayed through Molly’s character but I have had the unfortunate experience to walk that journey with a few and not one of them walked the same path. I personally liked the author’s fast pace and easy writing style particularly due to its intended audience who should find this easy to read.

Overall it’s a beautiful and moving story about losing a loved one, handling grief and creating a new world.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bridget Geraghty for allowing me to review this book.

*synopsis and pic from netgalley.com

#BridgetGeraghty