labmom55

So, I’ll admit all I knew about the Edmund Fitzgerald is thanks to Gordon Lightfoot. John Bacon did a great job educating me not just about the tragedy, but the economy of the Great Lakes region, the shipping industry and the weather of the area. As with all great narrative nonfictions, this one moved at a brisk speed while teaching me all sorts of facts, big and small. I certainly didn’t know that the Wisconsin Badgers were named for miners, not rodents. Or that Leonardo da Vinci invented the miter lock, which is still used today. Or that the recorded version of Lightfoot’s song was literally the first time the band played it together. But more importantly, how monstrous the Great Lakes economy was during the mid-20th Century.

Bacon includes personal stories about the 29 men lost, which helped make it more than just a book of facts and figures. He was able to interview families, friends and former crew mates. He really was able to impart the sense of community among those who work in the shipping industry. I did question why he often repeated himself about certain facts. Did he think the reader wouldn’t remember what they had read or heard previously?

I listened to this and Johnny Heller did a fine job as narrator, although I did have to turn down the speed I usually use.

Much has been made over The Correspondent, which actually made me a little afraid to read it. Would it live up to the hype? I’m glad to say, it does. In spades. The story, told completely through letters and emails, follows Sybil through her seventies. Sybil has had what anyone would consider a full life - lawyer, wife, mother, friend, reader. But that doesn’t mean it’s been an easy one - the death of a young child, a divorce, a fraught relationship with one of her remaining children, the gradual loss of her eyesight.

I immediately felt a kinship with Sybil, and not just because we are of similar ages. Her life has been deeply enriched by reading and almost every letter includes what she’s been reading and asking others what they are. Reading has helped bring meaning to her life. But also, as she is closer to the end than the beginning of life, she has started re-thinking decisions she has made. It hits all the big topics - guilt, forgiveness (of others and self), marriage, family and motherhood, finding balance in our lives.

What is unique about her, especially in this day and age, is that she still corresponds the old fashion way - with pen and paper. She wants there to be a record of her correspondence, unlike the impermanence of emails and texts. She made me want to get back to writing letters. She writes to everyone - authors, editors, university deans, a customer service rep - in addition to friends and family. I especially loved that she wrote to authors. It makes me hope that the reviews I write of books I have loved have somehow made it onto the author’s radar.

I both read and listened to this. The audio is wonderful, with a full cast. But I’m so glad I also had the book so I could highlight all the passages that tugged at my heart.

3.5 stars, rounded up

I wasn’t quite sure what to make of Wolvers. For starters, one of the main characters is a she-wolf known as One-Eleven. The last thing I wanted was a wolf anthropomorphized. Brown tried to walk the fine line of not giving her human thoughts. I’m not sure he always succeeded. Would a wolf understand the concept of a trap? The plot covers the battle between the pro-wolf contingency and the haters. The haters were not just ranchers and outfitters, as you would expect, but militia who see going after the wolf as a symbol of their fight for “freedom”.

The story begins with a wolver named Trace. His family lost their ranch due to shooting a tagged wolf. Now, he’s a gun for hire. He has a “change of heart” as the blurb calls it, but it needed to be better explained. In the Author’s Note, Brown mentions this was a frequent occurrence with historical Wolvers and we are meant to assume just watching them leads them to change their mind.

Then the men who had hired him hire Murdoch as a replacement whose job is to get not just One-Eleven but also Trace, who supposedly knows too much. Throw in Horn, a wolf-protector, for good measure. My problem was that none of the humans felt real. Murdoch, in particular, felt like a cliche.

There are some graphic scenes here, so be prepared. The story is dark and heavy on the macho sentiments. It also goes into the political arena in a way I didn’t expect.
On the positive side, Brown does have a good way with words. I loved his descriptions of nature. The book shone most when humans weren’t in the mix.

My thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.

I had been impressed by River Song Me Home, so was delighted to be given an advance copy of Shearer’s sophomore effort, Fireflies in Winter. But this book didn’t pull me in the way her debut did. The story takes place in late 18th century Halifax. A young woman, an orphaned Maroon, has recently arrived from Jamaica. I was unaware of the concept of Maroons and found it odd that Shearer only slowly explains the concept (and then just in spatters) and what brought them to Nova Scotia. I had to check Wikipedia to really get a grasp. Did she assume everyone knew the history? The book would be improved by a brief synopsis of their history before the book begins.

During the harsh winter, she meets another young black woman who is hiding out in the woods. She has never felt she belonged within her community and finds herself drawn to this stranger in the woods. This is a slow moving story, going back and forth in its limited timeline. It doesn’t come together until it’s almost ? over. It’s a dark story, focusing on the slippery slope of freedom for anyone not white.

The writing is beautiful. Shearer does a great job providing a sense of time and place. I had a real feel for the absolute cold of the winter.

My thanks to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing for an advance copy of this book.

Blue Sisters is the second pick for my buddy-read with my granddaughter. Let me start by saying, I am the wrong demographic for this book. I’ve lost my patience for women looking to self-destruct. But, as an only child, I’m always interested in how siblings are portrayed. I was shocked when I became a stepmother to realize siblings weren’t carbon copies of each other. The book starts with the premise:

“ A sister is not a friend. Who can explain the urge to take a relationship as primal and complex as a sibling and reduce it to something as replaceable, as a friend...You don’t choose each other, and there’s no furtive period of getting to know each other. You’re part of each other, right from the start.”

There were four Blue sisters. But one has overdosed and the other three are still struggling with their loss one year later. It doesn’t help that their father was a nasty alcoholic, so they had issues even before their sister died. They all are one example after another of self sabotage. Avery has become a workaholic after getting herself off drugs. Her wife wants to have a baby but Avery refuses to admit she doesn’t. Lucky is a model who revels in drugs, sex and nonstop partying. Bonnie was a professional boxer who gave up the sport after she lost a key bout and is now floundering. At one point, Lucky thinks “Could you fall out of love with life if you were never in love with it?” And it seems to apply to all three. They were three very miserable human beings. It was Chiti I actually admired and felt sorry for. As she tells Avery “So you hate yourself? So what! You’re not a teenager! You don’t get to act on every self-destructive urge you have.” And that summed up my feelings. These adult women all kept acting like teenagers.
The family relationships felt too predictable although maybe that’s because there’s truth in birth order psychology.

I wished the author explored more in depth the addictions that seemed to have a genetic component. Now, I also read. A LOT. So most of the book felt like it’d been done before. (And better.). For those not reading hundreds of books a year, maybe this will feel fresher.

I’m not sure what to make of Angel Down, a surreal, at times almost hallucinogenic story of World War I. It certainly gets the gruesome, horrific scenes of war right. At times, it was really hard to listen to. A group of five doughboys, the dregs of their battalion, are given the assignment to enter a no man’s land to rescue the wounded comrade screaming there. But what they encounter, instead, is a fallen Angel. The Angel brings out the best and worst in these five. There’s greed, jealousy, paranoia. Each but Bagger displays egotistical desires. As the Angel says, she is the sword, not the arm. So their wishes lead to more destruction, not less.

The story is told from the viewpoint of Cyril Bagger, a conman and grifter who has survived thus far by always staying behind the lines of engagement. But now, all of a sudden, he’s acting almost heroic at times. I sometimes struggled with the writing. Those who read the book made much of the fact that it’s written as one big run on sentence, but you couldn’t really tell that from the audio narration. It’s just that there were way too many sections that felt overly verbose. Krauss is one of those writers who feels compelled to use 8 adjectives when 2 would do the trick. Yet other descriptions were so spot on, they just grabbed me. The ending turns into a big philosophical diatribe against the evils of man and how things will only get even worse after The War to End All Wars. There was a lot more telling than showing.

I listened to this and while Kirby Heyborne was a fine narrator, I felt it would work better to read this.

Forewarned is forearmed. Departure(s) isn’t a traditional fiction and those looking for that will be severely disappointed. At times, it comes across as more stream of consciousness, especially in the beginning when the author/main character discusses memory. It’s totally metafiction, with all the boundaries blurred. One of the sentences in that initial chapter should give you a hint of what you’re dealing with: “There will be a story—or a story within the story—but not just yet.”

Julian is the author/main character. He’s seventy-eight and dealing with a blood condition that is manageable but not curable. So, there’s a lot of talk of old age, health, dying, loss. The “story” concerns his two friends, Stephen and Jean, whom he introduces in college and then re-introduces four decades later. The fact that he promised both of them he’d never write about them gets thrown out like yesterday’s trash. (At least he waited until they were both dead.) I can’t say I especially liked either of them. A little too weird for my taste. So, I was less entranced with those sections when Julian was with them or talking about them.

Despite the book’s quirks, I did enjoy it. The writing is lovely and I was highlighting lots of passages. It’s a thought provoking book; one you will be thinking about for days afterwards. One of my favorite passages: “Life is not a tragedy with a happy ending, despite what religion promised, rather it is a farce with a tragic ending, or at best, a light comedy with a sad ending.”

My thanks to Netgalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor for an advance copy of this book.

Five big heartwarming stars for How To Read A Book. This one is definitely going on my “best of 2026” list. When the story opens, Violet is serving a prison sentence for manslaughter. The highlight of her time there is the book club. The book club is run by Harriet, a 64 year old, widowed, retired English teacher. Meanwhile, Frank, the husband of the woman Violet killed, has taken a job as the handyman at a bookstore. Once Violet is released, it’s not long before the three intersect. The characters are dealing with loneliness and guilt. But each is also learning to forgive and accept themselves and others and to stand up for themselves. These were all people I loved spending time with and I felt bereft when the story ended. Be prepared to need Kleenex. But fear not, the book is all about hope and love and the ability to be there for others.
The writing is both beautiful and spot on. I was highlighting passages left and right. It has several wonderful ideas about how to read a book, especially the concept of a “meanwhile”, “an important thing that’s happening while the rest of the story moves along”.

The book also made me want to read other books, especially Spoon River Anthology.
This was a book club selection and I can wait to discuss it.

The Listeners is a historic fiction (with a heavy emphasis on fiction) about the need during 1942 to detain the diplomats from Axis countries until a swap could be arranged. While it’s loosely based on real events, and does include some real occurrences, historical fiction is almost a misnomer. It’s heavier on romance and fantasy than it is on history.

The Avalon is a luxury hotel in West Virginia, similar to the Greenbriar, which makes an arrangement with the State Department to be where the diplomats are held. June Hudson is the hotel’s general manager and a local gal who has a feel for the “sweet waters” of the local springs. I am generally not a fan of magic realism and this book didn’t do it well. I really didn’t see the need for the fantasy of these magical waters (which are never explained) and thought the story would have been stronger if it had kept itself more rooted in reality.

The character development was done well. June was the typical plucky FMC. I was more invested in Tucker, the head of the FBI contingent. I appreciated the quandaries that he faced, especially given some of the moral dilemmas that arose. But overall, I felt at a remove from all the characters. The book moves at a rather glacial pace and I felt it covered a lot of the same territory multiple times. It was too much about hotel employees being forced to serve people they had no reason to respect. I felt the bureaucracy of the swap rang true. As did the dilemma of Hanalore and what her mother, Sabine, was willing to do.

I listened to this and Erin Bennett did a good job narrating. The Listeners is a historic fiction (with a heavy emphasis on fiction) about the need during 1942 to detain the diplomats from Axis countries until a swap could be arranged. While it’s loosely based on real events, and does include some real occurrences, historical fiction is almost a misnomer. It’s heavier on romance and fantasy than it is on history.

The Avalon is a luxury hotel in West Virginia, similar to the Greenbriar, which makes an arrangement with the State Department to be where the diplomats are held. June Hudson is the hotel’s general manager and a local gal who has a feel for the “sweet waters” of the local springs. I am generally not a fan of magic realism and this book didn’t do it well. I really didn’t see the need for the fantasy of these magical waters (which are never explained) and thought the story would have been stronger if it had kept itself more rooted in reality.

The character development was done well. June was the typical plucky FMC. I was more invested in Tucker, the head of the FBI contingent. I appreciated the quandaries that he faced, especially given some of the moral dilemmas that arose. But overall, I felt at a remove from all the characters. The book moves at a rather glacial pace and I felt it covered a lot of the same territory multiple times. It was too much about hotel employees being forced to serve people they had no reason to respect. I felt the bureaucracy of the swap rang true. As did the dilemma of Hanalore and what her mother, Sabine, was willing to do.

I listened to this and Erin Bennett did a good job narrating.

Becoming Madam Secretary does a wonderful job of giving us the life of Frances Perkins, one of the first women to hold high offices in both state and federal politics. I’ll admit to recognizing her name more than knowing what she accomplished. She first helped create a limit to the hours worked by women and children. She led the state’s labor department under Governor Roosevelt. Under President Roosevelt, she was the Secretary of Labor for all twelve years of his presidency and was the primary driver for the Social Security Act and helped create the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Dray provides a well rounded picture of Perkins. In her private life, she was initially determined not to marry, then had to deal with a miscarriage and a still birth. But the worst was her husband’s severe manic-depression and his suicidal tendencies.
The first person narration made it feel like Frances was speaking directly to the reader. It lent it a very personal feel. Dray gives the reader a strong understanding of the times, from the poor work conditions in the 1910s through the Great Depression. The trick with historical fiction is to put in enough relevant drafts without slowing the pace of the story. Dray does this.

This is a long book, but it felt like a quick read. And if any of us feel like some of the stunts of the Trump administration are original, this book puts the lie to that. Section 24 which had hoodlums acting as immigration agents rounding up and blackmailing immigrants and even American citizens. General Hugh “Iron Pants” Johnson was the Elon Musk of his day - someone not employed by the government but still maneuvering nefarious plots within.

I read this for my book club and envision that it will lead to an interesting discussion.

I’ve become a big fan of modern reworking of ancient mythical figures. As with many of these retellings, this story gives a voice to the women who were never previously heard from. In this book, we learn the origin story of Medusa, she of the snakes for hair that turn men to stone. Medusa was the youngest of three daughters of old Titan sea gods. She is the only mortal of the family. She is noticed by Athena and taken as an acolyte to be a priestess for the goddess.

The book focuses on how mortals are just playthings for the gods. Like anyone in a position of power, they are not to be trusted. It also focuses on victim blaming. At times, the language felt a little too modern, as when the characters discuss the “imbalance of power”. But this was a minor quibble. Gray does a good job of developing Medusa into a fully formed character. She definitely has a temper and struggles to use it only for good.

It reminded me of Bright Young Women at the end when Gray refuses to name the man who finally kills her. It does help to have an understanding of Greek mythology, especially the hierarchy of the old vs. new gods.

My thanks to Netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.

Lost Lambs is about a totally dysfunctional family. The parents have an open relationship which isn’t working for the husband. Sixteen year old Abigail is dating a man in his 20s known as War Crimes Wes, which tells you a lot right there. Fifteen year old Louise feels invisible to her family so becomes the perfect target for an online Islamic terrorist. And the baby of the family, Harper, is brilliant but also a sucker for conspiracy theories so her parents send her to a wilderness camp. The story flips between their POVs along with those of several secondary characters. The strength of the book is in its characters. I felt they were all fully formed, each quirky in their own way. At times, it just felt a little overwhelming because there was so much going on, subplot after subplot. And as the story reaches its climax, it definitely goes off into the realm of the completely unbelievable which didn’t work for me. And for those that don’t care about believability, know that Cash then cops out and doesn’t even explain how the characters get out of the unbelievable predicament. I did appreciate that it ended on a note of hope.

The book is meant to be humorous and yes, there were quite a few times I truly chuckled. But overall, it missed the mark for me. I’m not sure if it suffered in comparison to the book I read right before this, also about a dysfunctional family, which was truly five stars.

I listened to this and the narrator, Christine Larkin, didn’t add anything to the mix.
My thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advance copy of this audiobook.

Marie Benedict had made her name writing stories of strong historical female characters. This time, she employs a dual timeline story to tell the story of Hatshepsut, one of the few female pharaohs in ancient Egypt and Lady Evelyn Herbert’s quest to find her tomb in the early 1920s. Marie Benedict is one of the few writers that consistently meets my criteria for good historical fiction. She packs enough facts into the book but never slows the pace of the story. And while she often uses the dreaded dual timeline approach, she manages to make both plotlines equally interesting. Her writing is such that it was easy to envision scenes in both timelines. I especially was enthralled by the Egyptian political climate as they sought their independence from England and what that meant for archeology. The book illuminates a point of contention that is still being fought - who owns the artifacts of a country’s history.

Both of her main characters felt fully formed. Both are forced to deal with the constraints on women, in Evelyn’s case the expectation of marriage, in Hatshepsut’s case, a belief that women could not be pharaohs. Benedict comes up with a brilliant twist to explain why Hatshepsut’s legacy was erased after her death. I both read and listened to this which was the perfect approach. I needed to be able to both see and hear many of the names. And I was so pleased to know that the audiobook includes the Author’s Note.

My thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for advance copies of this book.

Love and Fury is a well done historical fiction that tracks the life of Mary Wollstonecraft, arguably the first feminist. The book starts with Mary about to give birth to her daughter, Mary Shelley. The story alternates between Mary’s chapters which are told as the story of her life to her daughter and those of Mrs. B, the midwife, who stays on after the birth as a nurse.

Mary didn’t have an easy life. The daughter of an abusive alcoholic, the family was constantly forced to move as her father attempted to reinvent himself. Her parents were randomly cruel. A scene involving violence against an animal had me wishing for one’s death. Denied the education she so desperately wanted, she was fortunate to meet two men that believed in the education of girls. She pays it forward when she starts a school for young girls. But for all her strength and determination, she remained vulnerable in matters of the heart. While I was familiar with her writing, I had no idea about her life and how fascinating it was. I was especially enthralled by the section when she is in France during the French Revolution.

The book doesn’t pull any punches. It highlights the hardships of women’s lives in the 18th century - the lack of any kind of rights, the worries of childbirth, the horrors of the medical practices of the day, the lack of opportunities for women. The book grabbed me both emotionally and intellectually. I appreciated that Mrs. B was much more than just a secondary character to move Mary’s story forward. Ell Potter narrates the book and did a good job of conveying the emotions of the book.

I highly recommend this book for those that want to learn something when they read historical fiction. My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advance copy of this audiobook.

California Golden takes on the surfing culture of 1960s California. Think Gidget and Beach Boys. Mindy and Ginger are the daughters of surfing phenom Carol. In order to have any connection with their mother, they have both taken up surfing. Mindy takes to it, to pardon the pun, like a fish to water. Ginger is not a natural. One night, they make different decisions and their lives veer in vastly different directions.

The book is divided into three parts. The first covers the period from their preteens through their early twenties. It flits back and forth through the years, and from Mindy to Ginger and back again. The second part covers their mother Carol, “the anti-Betty Crocker”. A woman happy to walk out on her family to surf. And finally, the third section, which moves to the 1970s.

None of these women were likable, although they were all sympathetic. Carol, who should never have been a mother. And her daughters, the results of poor parenting having left marks on each. The girls react in very different ways; Mindy building up walls, Ginger becoming totally dependent on a bad man. Benjamin does a good job painting the time and place. She encompasses both the Hollywood and the surfing scenes, the cults and Vietnam. The USO scenes were very strong. She also does a good job encompassing the prejudices of the time.

Unfortunately, the plot is predictable beyond belief. And I found the entire book oddly dissatisfying - a little too shallow and the characters too flat, despite the situations presented. Benjamin took her inspiration from a real life mother and daughter surfing trio, but her characters’ lives are purely made up.

My thanks to Netgalley and Random House/Ballantine for an advance copy of this book.

I was amazed to realize I had never read Alice McDermott before. So, I am so glad I rectified this mistake. Absolution is a strong historical fiction that captures the lives of young American families living in Saigon in 1963, before the war, as I think of it, was truly underway.

Told mostly in the second person narrative, from the viewpoint of sixty years later, Tricia is speaking to Charlene’s daughter, Rainey, who was just a youngster at the time. Tricia and Charlene were both young married women living in Saigon. Charlene is definitely the Alpha female. She draws the shy Tricia into her orbit. She is determined to help the Vietnamese. But her help consists of providing candy, toys, clothing - “inconsequential good”, as Rainey labels it.

I loved what this book had to say about the American sense of superiority, altruism, the expected role of women, motherhood and the Catholic faith. It’s a deep book, the kind that works well as a book club selection. I was impressed by McDermott’s ability to take me back in time. The families might have been in Saigon, but they just transplanted their US lives - the cocktail parties, the dress code, the volunteerism, to a different locale. She totally got the attitude of a woman as a “helpmate”.

She also transports the reader to Saigon and shows the juxtaposition of their privileged lives, complete with servants against the poverty, the disease and the effects of the violence that the Vietnamese were experiencing. Even those seeking to do good took advantage of the situation. The interlude in the middle gives the reader a glimpse into Rainey’s adult life. It works to give us an update on the adults from the time. I did laugh to finally realize Rainey would be basically my age.

I listened to this and the two narrators both did lovely jobs.

Kin is very different from Tayari Jones’ bestseller, An American Marriage, but it’s no less moving. Vernice (Niecy) and Annie are both motherless, but for different reasons. Vernice’s mother was murdered by her father; Annie’s mother just left. Both found solace in each other. But their lives go in vastly different directions once they reach age 18. Annie can’t get beyond feeling abandoned by her mother and it colors all her decisions. Vernice just wants to be accepted.

The story is told in alternating POVs. This is truly a character driven story. The pace is languid, the plot could do with more tension. The book has lots to say about abandonment, social acceptance, fulfillment, betrayal and friendship. It’s about what we will do for those we truly love. And what it means to finally find yourself. Jones does a wonderful job of painting a picture of the Jim Crow South in the mid 20th Century.

My thanks to Netgalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor for an advance copy of this book.

Crooks is one of those books that is fabulous in its own right but rose to a whole other level thanks to the audio narration by Jonathan McClain.

I adored the premise. Buddy is a low level mob guy in Las Vegas who thinks he’s smarter than his bosses. And has to run when he finds out he’s not. His five kids are all different but all have been brought up within the “family business”. The book follows the family as the kids grow into adults. At this stage, the book becomes more a group of interconnected stories, following each individual Mercurio child as they make their way in the world.

Each character is unique and fully formed. Because of their upbringing, everyone but Alice has a loose moral code and is involved in some sort of criminal enterprise. Alice, on the other hand, is as straightlaced as can be. But then, each has an epiphany of sorts. There are lots of laughs here, from sly dry humor to laugh out fun. The book moves at a brisk pace, regardless of whose story is being told. What surprised me is that I enjoyed each of the stories equally. And really got a kick out of how each of the kids ends up.

Highly recommend and this will be my first five star book of the year.

White River Crossing is a dark historical fiction that takes the reader back to 18th century northern Canada, where a hunt for gold leads to bloody consequences. It left me feeling despondent that there is no such thing as a good man. When a peddler shows up at a Hudson Bay Company trading post with a stone interlaced with gold veins, the outpost’s leader gets ideas about becoming rich. He sends a small party of men, both English and Northern Indian, into the tundra, the land of the Esquimaux, to find the source. But the group is a mix of egos, ill tempers and greed, and it doesn’t take long for conflict to occur. And once the first issue gets out of hand, the dominoes just continue to fall.

McGuire’s writing is beautifully descriptive and it was easy to envision each scene. As you would expect, the story is dark. I appreciated that we heard from multiple characters, not just the English but the Indians and Esquimaux. In each case, they wonder at the lack of understanding by others at how the world works, convinced of their own beliefs. But the pace is slow and I struggled to stay invested in the story. It’s a story totally lacking in hope.

My thanks to Netgalley and Crown Publishing for an advance copy of this book.

Anna Quindlen has once again written a character rich drama that drew me in. Polly is blessed with many things in her life - a loving husband, dear friends, a satisfying job. But life is not all roses. Her attempts to conceive have failed. And this does seem to take up an awful lot of the story. It’s a testament to Quindlen’s writing that I was still so engrossed in the story, since the idea of wanting kids at all is totally foreign to me.
When her friends give her a DNA test as a joke, it comes back with an unknown reasonably close relative. Polly doesn’t seem at all bothered by this, just assuming the company somehow made a mistake. Now, having had an experience with learning about a previously unknown cousin, I know the kind of shock waves this can cause. The mathematical juggling is real. “Keeping it all straight is a little like higher math or diagramming complex sentences.” So it felt odd that Polly was initially so nonplussed by this news. But this part of the story was definitely secondary until the last section of the book.

The other characters were all engaging. I especially wanted a MIL as wonderful as Lou. I loved what the book had to say about friendship, loss, but also joy and appreciating what you have. The ending wasn’t a surprise but it was lovely in so many ways. This book is perfect for when you want something uplifting.

My thanks to Netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.