Separated by a century. Bonded by loss.

Emily Reed keeps her grief just beneath the surface — and any touch to that place leaves a mark. Elizabet Thomas has waited eighty years for a promise that was never kept: that her husband would be there when she crossed to the other side. Now, in this quiet, dual-perspective novel of women's historical fiction, their two worlds are about to collide.

When Emily, a first-year attorney, is assigned to catalog the records of Seattle's aging First Church, she expects tedious hours of dust and paperwork — a welcome distraction from the feelings she's kept buried for a decade. Instead, she uncovers proof that her own parents were married within these same walls, and the grief she's outrun for ten years is finally catching up to her.

Elizabet died in 1935, and she's wandered the sanctuary halls ever since — a lost soul unable to find the husband she was promised she'd see again. Now the church itself is at risk of being torn down, and Elizabet must find a way to reach the one living person who might save it — the young lawyer down in the archives.

When Emily discovers a decades-old diary hidden in the church's basement, she's drawn into a stranger's words in a way she doesn't expect. And as the fight to save the church unfolds, Elizabet begins to realize that she and the woman cataloging her personal records may have more in common than either could have guessed.

Can two women, separated by a century and united by loss, save the place that holds them both — and finally face the grief they've each been running from?

This book is for you if:

* You love a slow-burn, character-driven story that rewards patience.

* You want grief handled with honesty, humor, and hope.

* You believe some endings are earned, not easy.

All That Was is a standalone novel of women's historical fiction. If that sounds like your kind of story, All That Was is waiting for you.

Hannah Schooner

Voice