Fans of light romance and family reunions will savor this sensitive portrait of love transcending grief.
Lauren Kincaid just wants to escape the public eye, but that isn't so easy as the widow of Rory, an NHL hockey player who enlisted in the Army and was killed in action while serving in Iraq. She hopes to gain some privacy to mourn by retreating to her family's beach house on the Jersey shore.
Her privacy is complicated after four years when Lauren’s parents, sister, and 6-year-old nephew arrive for the summer. Even worse, attractive filmmaker Matt Brio, determined to make a documentary about Rory, wants to interview Lauren before he loses funding. Although Matt, too, admires Rory, he suspects that there may be more to the story of an American saint than his heroism. Unearthing revelations about a man everyone adored and no one wants to malign proves difficult. Eventually, Lauren and her sister agree to cooperate, and Matt’s interviews expose several skeletons in Rory’s closet. Toggling between Lauren’s new life—a life she keeps too busy to dwell on the past—and flashbacks to her buried memories of Rory, Brenner (The Forever Summer, 2017, etc.) empathetically portrays a fragile woman hiding secrets from herself. In Lauren’s memory, they were the perfect couple, high school sweethearts. Rory was the star hockey player, a junior who spotted a shy, pretty sophomore girl running track and fell in love. Though they were inseparable in high school, Rory pushed Lauren away for a brief period during college so he could concentrate on academics and hockey at Harvard, where he generated a lot of interest, landing him a place with the L.A. Kings. Reunited after college, they moved to California, and although Lauren supported him, Rory struggled to gain ice time. His abrupt decision to enlist terrified Lauren but came as no surprise to Rory’s beloved older brother, Emerson. Brenner deftly orchestrates the painful peeling away of Lauren’s memories, and just when it seems that Lauren is simply a heartbroken widow, questions surface: Why does Emerson hold a grudge against her? Why didn’t Lauren know Rory was going to volunteer for a second tour? Only an unflinching look at the truth will let Lauren move on and, perhaps, find a new life.
Fans of light romance and family reunions will savor this sensitive portrait of love transcending grief.Pub Date: April 24, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-39490-1
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2018
A moving, funny, and ultimately hopeful look at what makes life meaningful.
In Fossey's debut, a grumpy assisted living resident realizes his life still has surprises in store.
Duffy Sinclair, 88, knows he didn’t make the most of his life. He spent years of it as an alcoholic, but in his sober old age he’s finally found a home at Centennial, an assisted living facility. He has a best friend—his roommate, Carl, who shares everything with him. He has crushes and nemeses and playful banter with the staff members. Things are perfect—except that Centennial’s new owner will use any excuse to kick residents out so she can rent their rooms for more money, leaving them no option but a poorly run nursing home. Duffy tries to be on his best behavior and stay in line—but then a young woman tumbles through his window. It turns out she’s Carl’s granddaughter—one Duffy never knew he had. She has a black eye, an alcohol problem, and nowhere to stay—and Carl thinks she should camp out in their room. Duffy knows that getting caught hiding an alcoholic 20-something would earn him an immediate one-way ticket out of Centennial, and at first he tells Carl and Josie no way. But as he gets to know Josie and see the kind of pain he knows all too well, Duffy realizes he might finally have a chance to make up for all those wasted years. Duffy is cantankerous, gruff, and occasionally unkind, but his head is always an entertaining place to be. It’s clear that he cares deeply about his friends and fellow Centennial residents, and it’s impossible not to root for him. Fossey manages to depict the struggles of the elderly, whose concerns aren’t often examined in fiction, in a way that’s both respectful and entertaining.
A moving, funny, and ultimately hopeful look at what makes life meaningful.Pub Date: April 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0493-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
A moving novel about life and death.
A debut love story from Los Angeles–based Reid.
Elsie's new husband, Ben, is hit by a truck while riding his bicycle. He dies on impact. Ben’s mother, Susan, never knew her son had a wife (the courtship was brief). When she and Susan meet after Ben's death, there's friction. The book flashes back to Elsie and Ben’s brief, fun-filled romance and Vegas elopement, and it tracks the post-funeral friendship that develops between Elsie and Susan. Ben was reluctant to tell his recently widowed mother about his upcoming marriage since he was afraid Susan would feel that he was pushing her out of his life. And Elsie was afraid Susan wouldn’t like her since her own parents had always made her feel like an unloved failure. Over time, the two women work through their suspicion and anxieties and confide in one another, support one another, talk about Ben together and eventually talk to Ben together. There is a subplot involving an old man, a frequent visitor to the library where Elsie works, who's preparing for the death of his wife.
A moving novel about life and death.Pub Date: July 9, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4767-1282-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Washington Square/Pocket
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2013
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