Francis Ray’s writing just feels like it was made for me. I’m low-key a history nerd, so I like knowing all the little fine details about books, authors, and the lore, if you will.

Trouble Don’t Last Always was originally released under a different title: The Turning Point. And what’s so powerful about that is Francis Ray was so moved by the challenges people face in situations of domestic violence and abuse that she started a foundation with the same name. If I could love her more—my goodness. You can tell she was writing from a place of deep care.

This story was beautiful. Poignant.  I love the way Francis Ray builds community around her protagonists. Yes, you have the central couple, but the side characters have weight too. Their lives, their choices, their nuance, it all weaves into the main story in such a meaningful way.

In this book, Adam loses his sight. He’s a doctor, and that loss shakes his identity. He’s trying to learn how to live with his disability. The Lilly is running from a marriage to a bad man, and after someone she deeply cares about passes away, that loss becomes her turning point. So she leaves. But it doesn’t go how she imagined and she ends up somewhere completely unexpected. It’s a  right place, wrong time moment that turns out to be the best thing that could’ve happened.

I don’t want to give too much [more] away, but I love these characters. Their growth, their connection, the way they hold space for each other.

If you’ve never read a Francis Ray novel, please do. I am so grateful that she left her stories here with us. Her words live on, and through them, so does she. May she rest in power. 🕊️