Title: Lost Without Him
Author: Carol Scutt
Publisher: XlibrisUS
ISBN: 978-1-9845-6212-8
Pages: 190
Genre: Memoir
Review by: Ella Vincent
Pacific Book Review
Lost Without Him is an inspirational and searing memoir by Carol Scutt about her decades-long marriage to her loving husband, Paul. This autobiography will take readers on an emotional journey.
Lost Without Him tells the story of Scutt’s life growing up in rural Indiana with her dysfunctional family and domineering alcoholic father in the 1950’s. As a teenager in the 1960’s, she meets Paul, a cute co-worker whose strong belief in God helps her faith grow and overcome her troubled home life. Carol and Paul marry, embarking on a 50yearlong partnership that survives the Vietnam War, jealousy, and many other obstacles. Strutt writes candidly about how her devotion to God helped her through love and eventual loss of her beloved husband.
Scutt’s writing is confessional and emotional. She writes with heartbreaking honesty about the domestic violence she witnessed as a child and how that shaped her as an adult. Strutt also writes with admiration about how her faith in God helped her cope with her separation from Paul when he was stationed in Vietnam. Her recollections of her time with Paul through the years are written so vividly, readers will feel like they’ve traveled back to the idyllic small-time life in the Midwest. Scutt’s writing about the love story between her and Paul is also written about very realistically. Though they loved each other, they had to continually work to save their marriage.
Though the book is about her marriage to Paul, Scutt writes a lot about the influence her father had on her. She writes about how her father was deeply flawed but loved her and tried to make it up to her in later years. She writes about how her love of her father led her to have a wealth of forgiveness for her him and even herself.
Lost Without Him would be best for readers who want to read about long-lasting love stories, like In This Life Together, the story of the long marriage between actors Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis. The book would also be best for readers who want to read about surviving dysfunctional families, like Jeanette Walls’ The Glass Castle. This book would also be good for readers who want to read about how to cope with the death of a loved one.
Lost Without Him is an inspirational book that readers will find motivational in their lives. Carol Scutt has written a memoir that readers will find unforgettable.
