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Bottom of the Breath by Jayne Mills
Published by She Writes Press on July 8, 2025
Genres: Friendship Fiction, Family Life Fiction, Fiction, Women's Divorce Fiction
Pages: 304
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After crashing into a devastating revelation, Cyd’s tranquil life on the Florida panhandle is further upended when she receives a letter announcing an inheritance from an estranged aunt. The inheritance contains mysterious “items of a personal nature” which Cyd must collect in person halfway across the country. In a last attempt to salvage her deteriorating marriage, Cyd agrees to travel with her husband on what he promises—and she questions—will be the trip of a lifetime.
As they set out, a hurricane threatens their hometown. Soon, fueled by the growing threat of the storm and the tension brewing between them, the couple’s long-suppressed problems erupt. Cyd digs deep for the courage to continue the journey on her own, unsure if either her home or her marriage will survive.
Once in Phoenix, Cyd learns the strange details of the inheritance and a decades-old family secret. But what was the whole truth? Clues and instinct lead Cyd to Sedona and then to the Grand Canyon. She descends into the vast chasm alone searching for answers to newly raised questions and age-old mysteries. She steps off the beaten path, literally, knowing she must make peace with her pain-filled past and her uncertain future.
Jayne Mills delivers a strong and quietly emotional debut with Bottom of the Breath. This story is about unraveling, reckoning, and choosing yourself even when everything around you is falling apart.
Cyd’s life takes a turn after she receives a letter from an estranged aunt about an unexpected inheritance described only as items of a personal nature. Hoping to salvage her troubled marriage, she agrees to a cross-country road trip with her husband. As a hurricane threatens their home in Florida, buried tensions rise to the surface, forcing Cyd to confront not only the state of her relationship but the parts of herself she has kept hidden.
Mills writes with clarity and care. The emotions are real and the characters feel lived-in. Bottom of the Breath is not about chasing answers. It is about finding peace, telling the truth, and letting go of what no longer fits.
This is a story for anyone who has ever had to leave pieces of themselves behind in order to move forward.
Reviewed by: Orsayor
