⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Edge of Belonging by Amanda Cox completely won me over.
This is a dual-timeline novel that centers on Ivy Rose, who returns to her hometown to handle her grandmother Pearl’s estate. What begins as a simple estate sale slowly opens the door to long-buried truths about Ivy’s adoption and the circumstances surrounding her birth. Some answers heal. Others hurt. All of them matter.
Running alongside Ivy’s story is one set twenty-four years earlier, when Harvey James—a homeless man living on the margins—finds an abandoned newborn in the woods. That baby gives Harvey purpose and connection for the first time in his life. His love for her is fierce and pure, but keeping her safe means making impossible choices and trusting a world that has never shown him much kindness.
Cox writes with deep empathy and restraint. The characters feel fragile, real, and achingly human. The story shines a quiet light on homelessness, abuse, and adoption without feeling heavy-handed. Faith is present, but it grows naturally out of the characters’ struggles rather than being forced.
Heartbreaking and hopeful in equal measure, this debut explores family in all its messy forms and reminds us that belonging isn’t always about where you come from—but who chooses to love you. Five glowing stars, and I’ll happily read her subsequent work.