Grief has a way of changing everything, including how we see ourselves, the people around us, and the meaning of justice. Tom Lewellen’s Not One Minute explores that transformation through the life of Gillette Dearth, a young single mother whose world is shattered when her five-year-old son, Lucas, is killed in a hit-and-run. What begins as a devastating personal tragedy grows into a sweeping story about love, family, anger, forgiveness, and the difficult work of finding purpose after unimaginable loss. Lewellen gives readers a protagonist whose emotions are messy, whose decisions are sometimes troubling, and whose determination to honor her son becomes the driving force of her life. The novel asks a compelling question: When the justice we receive feels insufficient, how do we find peace?

One of the book’s greatest strengths is its attention to Gillette’s life before tragedy strikes. Through flashbacks, we learn about her childhood, her relationships, her struggles with education, and the family that helped shape her. Her mother, Carla, and grandparents, Ana and PJ, provide a foundation of love and stability, even when they disagree about what’s best for her. These relationships give the story much of its emotional weight. Lewellen also introduces a colorful collection of friends, teachers, police officers, and community members who become part of Gillette’s complicated journey. Their conversations reveal the everyday kindness, humor, stubbornness, and occasional poor judgment that make people feel human. There’s something especially affecting about the small moments of family life, where an ordinary conversation or familiar memory can carry tremendous emotional significance.

The novel also works as a story about crime and accountability. Officer Katherine Fuller’s investigation introduces an element of suspense, while the legal proceedings raise questions about responsibility, punishment, and what society owes victims. Lewellen explores these issues from several perspectives, giving readers insight into the circumstances and motivations of people whose lives intersect with Gillette’s. This approach brings to mind Jodi Picoult, particularly her novel Nineteen Minutes, which also examines tragedy through multiple viewpoints and challenges readers to think about the relationship between personal suffering and legal justice. Like Picoult, Lewellen is interested in the difficult moral questions that emerge when individual experiences collide with larger institutions. His approach is especially conversational, often allowing characters to discuss their beliefs about faith, justice, education, and personal responsibility directly.

Not One Minute has the scope of a family saga, following its characters through years of personal struggles and changing circumstances. Lewellen moves between emotional drama, investigative suspense, romance, and reflections on social issues. Some of the strongest passages capture Gillette’s internal conflict as she wrestles with the distance between what she knows is right and what her pain urges her to do. The narrative occasionally slows when conversations become lengthy or characters explain their positions in considerable detail. Certain transitions between storylines can also feel abrupt. Still, the book’s expansive structure gives Gillette room to develop, and its interest in education, mentorship, and second chances adds dimension to a story centered on loss.

What stayed with me most about Not One Minute was its conviction that a meaningful life is built through relationships, effort, and the choices we make when circumstances seem impossible to overcome. Lewellen treats forgiveness as a difficult personal challenge and justice as something that extends beyond courtrooms and punishment. Gillette’s journey is often painful, sometimes frustrating, and consistently grounded in her love for Lucas. Readers who enjoy emotionally driven fiction, complicated family relationships, and stories that wrestle with moral choices will find plenty to engage with here. Not One Minute is an ambitious, heartfelt novel about the lasting influence of love and the possibility of discovering a new direction when the future we imagined has disappeared.

Pages: 476 | ASIN : B0HDRPJXPM