Introduction

In Kaya McLaren's What's Worth Keeping, during one unforgettable summer, three generations of one family receive the best gift of all time: a second chance...

The day her doctor says the one word that no one wants to hear, Amy Bergstrom discovers a secret that her husband of 25 years has been keeping from her. Now that the months of treatment and surgeries are behind her, she escapes her claustrophobic life seeking healing, peace and clarity in an ancient forest in Washington State, a forest that holds memories of her childhood summers.

After dropping off his daughter at Amy’s Aunt Rae’s horse ranch in the mountains of New Mexico, Officer Paul Bergstrom visits the fixer-upper he had bought years ago as a place to retire with his family. Although it appears fine on the outside, the inside is a disaster?just like his marriage. When he finds himself with more off-duty time than he expected, he lovingly repairs his dream home, building the future he so desperately wants.

Witnessing her mother’s health crisis had been terrifying enough, but learning the cause was genetic leaves Carly with the sense that all of her dreams are pointless. With the help of her eccentric great aunt and a Clydesdale named T. Rex, Carly just may find her faith in her future again.

Amy, Paul, and Carly discover that love and family are worth keeping in this powerful, emotional, and hopeful novel.

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Excerpt

Amy


It was as if an earthquake had hit, and now all of the contents of Amy Bergstrom’s life had fallen out of her closets, cupboards, shelves, and drawers and onto the floor. Sometimes this was quite literal, like the pile of summer clothes that had lain folded and dormant in a storage bin in the back of her closet all winter but now sat next to her full-length mirror, where she courageously tried on every much-loved shirt and dress to see whether it would still fit her now. Her guesses about many pieces had been wrong, and relief filled her each time she discovered that she could still wear a piece that had been a favorite. Her long tan coat embroidered with flowers. Her maroon-and-black beaded cocktail dress. Three white summer shirts with eyelets and embroidery. Sporty knit sundresses with built-in padding where her breasts used to be. A long yellow halter maxi-dress that had made her feel a bit like a character in Greek mythology. Two peasant shirts. Of the things that were still worth keeping, she put a few in the large plastic tote she intended to take with her when she left and hung the rest in her closet, decoys to hide the true extent of her plan. The things that no longer fit would go in the large black plastic bag to take to a thrift store. Heartbroken, she held each piece in her hands, pausing to remember times she had worn it—a dinner out, a birthday party, a family vacation, a special day with her dad back when he could still remember who she was. Then she hugged each piece to her chest before saying good-bye and placing it lovingly in the bag. She had dreaded this task for months. Every part of it was difficult—letting go, even simply looking in the mirror. She missed her long hair as much as she missed her breasts. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

1. Carly is thrown by the possibility of a genetic disease and faced with the decision to test for it. She struggles with the pros and cons of knowing and not knowing. How would you work through a similar decision? How would you help your child through something similar? Do people have the right to live without knowing things that might affect others adversely in the future or, now that there is the ability to know, is there also the obligation to know? ?
2. At the very end of the book, Paul recalls his brother's future mother-in-law saying that she believes she was married three times—just all to the same man . . . that if you hang on long enough, you fall in love again. Has this been the experience of anyone in your book group? ?
3. Amy longed to be among the big trees in the gentlest forest. Where are the places you long to return to when you need comfort? ?
4. Most of our lives, we are able to live in a comfortable state of denial about our vulnerability and mortality, but there are moments when we are keenly aware of it—both for ourselves and our loved ones. In those moments, what has given you the courage to face whatever life will ask of you and continue to walk forward? ?
5. Amy observes that in nature, that which adapts survives. What are some things in your life that you have had to adapt to in order to survive or thrive? Often adapting means letting go of attachments—not just things or people you were attached to, but perhaps more often ideas. What attachments have you had to release in order to free yourself to ?move forward? ?
6. Amy and her sister, Alicia, have a difficult relationship because of what each has chosen to believe and what establishments each has chosen to trust. Have you had similar impasses with people you love? What do you think is the best way to handle moments when a loved one oversteps and perhaps continues to overstep? ?
7. Amy has a negative experience in a support group and observes that, for the other women there, the experience of breast cancer has become their identity. Are there difficult experiences you’ve had that have become part of your identity? Was that a choice?or something that happened without your awareness? What are the things that define you? What do you like—or would you like— for your identity to be based upon?

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