Idgie Says:There is nothing I enjoy more in an escape novel than a really witty and somewhat snarky main character. I hit the jackpot with this novel.
Olivia has a serious situation on her hands and is contemplating many different actions that will affect her in various ways, but she is never without a wry sense of self. She doesn't take herself too seriously even in the most trying of situations.
She senses that perhaps she should be a bit more "adult" while having her 14 year old niece live with her, but not enough to actually change. She freaks out during phone calls and throws phones in lakes. She has an addiction to organized desks and nice pens. In other words, she's normal, she's interesting and I could easily see myself hanging out and having a few glasses of wine with her. That makes her fun to read.
The story itself is an interesting take on how you never actually know those people who you call Mom and Dad. You sometimes get to realize that they too were once young people with lives and hopes and dreams. Olivia goes on a physical and mental journey to find out about her Mom's past life, and in the process discovers herself a little bit more too.
Her niece is a fabulous sidekick to this entire adventure, and let's not forget the town newspaper dude. We all know newspaper dudes are hot.
A great book to lose yourself in for a while.
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Harper Paperbacks
August, 2014
Book Description:
On the surface, Olivia has it all: a high-powered career, a loving family, and a handsome fiancĂ©. She even seems to be coming to terms with her mother Janie’s premature death from cancer. But when Janie’s final wish is revealed, Olivia and her elder sister Georgia are mystified. Their mother rarely spoke of her rural Southern hometown, and never went back to visit—so why does she want them to return to Huntley, Georgia, to scatter her ashes?
Janie’s request offers Olivia a temporary escape from the reality she’s long been denying: she hates her “dream” job, and she’s not really sure she wants to marry her groom-to-be. With her fourteen-year-old niece, Logan, riding shotgun, she heads South on a summer road trip looking for answers about her mother.
As Olivia gets to know the town’s inhabitants, she begins to peel back the secrets of her mother’s early life—truths that force her to finally question her own future. But when Olivia is confronted with a tragedy and finds an opportunity to right a terrible wrong, will it give her the courage to accept her mother’s past—and say yes to her own desire to start over?