Reviewed by Grant Leishman for Readers' Favorite

Nothing Left to Lose by Len Joy is a moving, multi-generational tale of love, loss, reconnection, and family. When Clover Lane was just a young teenager, she ran away and headed to the bright lights of San Francisco, to Haight-Ashbury, where the anti-war, summer-of-love, hippie movement was just taking root. Whilst there, she became deeply involved in both communal-style living and anti-Vietnam War groups. One day, she just seemingly disappeared, leaving behind a little girl who was adopted by one of the members of the anti-war organization. Years later, Tawni Carter is the CEO of a national pro-life group and finds herself on the opposite side of a court case to her ex-husband, Jake Doyle, and her daughter Charlotte. The tenuous relationship between mother and daughter, which had been severely strained in the past, by first her divorce from Charlotte’s father and then her focus on her pro-life not-for-profit group, was probably now irreparably destroyed. We go on a fascinating journey, along with Clover Lane, to Haight-Ashbury and the unexpected developments in her life, through to her daughter’s and ultimately her granddaughter’s struggles for connection and family.

Nothing Left to Lose is a powerful, sweeping story that will pull on the heartstrings of readers. Author Len Joy has created some amazingly strong and smart women in this multi-generational story that tracks some major periods of American history. What I particularly enjoyed was the serendipitous web of connections that the twisting plotlines managed to weave. I loved the story of Clover’s journey to San Francisco, her arrival with basically nothing, and her throwing herself into the middle of the anti-war movement. I particularly appreciated the focus and comparison of the AIDS epidemic of the early eighties with the COVID-19 pandemic of 2019. Both were fraught with fear, confusion, and partisan rhetoric, and the author highlighted this exceptionally well. What this author did so well was the depth of character development. I felt deeply drawn into both Clover’s and Tawni’s worlds, their angst, dreams, fears, and their deep-seated need to understand their place in the world. Whether you agree with Tawni’s pro-life stance or not doesn’t matter because it is hard not to admire her passion, commitment, and overall emotional depth. Ultimately, this story is about love, family, and reconciliation, and it ticks all those boxes wonderfully. I thoroughly enjoyed this read and highly recommend it.