Identical twins Nora and Stevie Lucky were adopted at birth and they are as close as they could be, despite having very different personalities and traits. Stevie is more happy go lucky and lets life happen whereas Nora is very controlled and plans everything. Stevie is single parent to the now adult Cherry, whilst Nora runs a successful restaurant with her husband Santi, with Nora being the pastry chef.
Another way that they differ is that Nora has always wanted to find out about their birth parents, whereas Stevie has no interest whatsoever in finding out. She has always had a bad feeling about the whole thing. They both adored their adoptive parents. Years ago they agreed that they would put off searching for their origins until after their adoptive parents had passed.
The book opens at the funeral of their adoptive mother. Stevie is shocked when at the wake Nora declares that maybe now they can finally find out about their birth parents. I probably would have been shocked at the timing of such a declaration too. As the two women grieve, they have moments which appear like they are growing apart instead of together. As the story progresses, we also find out that they have kept secrets, big secrets, from each other over the years.
This book is a bit hard to discuss without too many spoilers, but the blurb for the book opens with the question What would you do if you thought each day on earth might just be your last? When the girls (I should say women really as they are nearly 50 years old) do find out about their birth parents they find something out that shakes them to their core.
They each truly look at their lives and wonder if they are really happy and so begin to make some changes. For Stevie, that might mean letting widower Felix into her life more, but how can she let herself get closer to him and his boys when there is this big shadow hanging over her. For Nora, it means wondering about whether the restaurant and Santi are enough for her anymore. And whether all those plans and hours in the gym have been worth it. The two characters almost begin to take on some of their sister's characteristics.
There are so many layers to this book. There is the sister's relationship. There are the questions about what it is like to be adopted and to either want or not want to find out where you come from and there are questions about genetics and how they can influence how you live. While there are some big themes, this is a Rachael Johns book, so along the way you also get great relationships, humour, pop culture references and more. This one does take an unusual turn for part of the book, but I think that is exciting for Rachael as a writer that she feels like stretching herself and her readers.
Butterflies play an important part in the story and I love the way that this motif goes all the way through the book, including on this stunning cover.
I will say though....that ending! I had to read it twice to go ....wait....what. It certainly fits the book but I was a bit surprised by it. It's a bit enigmatic.
This book is set in Perth, which is where I am originally from, and I still have a lot of family living there. There were lots of very familiar places mentioned in the book. One scene was set at a restaurant that has been around for years that is maybe 2 kilometres away from my grandparents house and two of my cousins even worked there for a while. And yet, I have never been. Maybe I will make it happen one day. Maybe not.
I chose this as one of my book club selections this month when our theme was free choice. I mentioned how when I had my very long reading slump a few years ago Rachael was one of the few authors I still read and someone in the group asked me why I kept on coming back to her books. I had to think about it, but I think that it is that despite writing rural romance, rom-coms and commercial women's fiction, I always know that I am going to get an enjoyable read, filled with humour and emotion and relatable characters. It doesn't hurt that I feel like I know Rachael. I sometimes listen to her podcasts and I have met her many times now, going to lots of author events and attending all three of her book club readers retreats. I guess what it comes down to is that I can trust her as an author!
I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted by The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews.
Rating 4/5
No comments:
Post a Comment