RABBIT RABBIT

A chance meeting on New Year’s Eve in Florence, Italy, turns into so much more for two people who live more than 5,000 miles apart.

Thirty-nine-year-old Billie is on a girls trip to Florence with her two best friends from college when Arthur, 44, who’s on a stag trip with friends, strikes up a conversation. After that chance meeting, they bump into each other getting gelato and then spend all night talking and walking before picnicking as the sun rises. Their lives are worlds apart: Billie is a successful film editor in Los Angeles who grew up in New York City and Arthur is an environmental scientist from Edinburgh, Scotland. As the months pass and they continue to see each other for the odd day here, the short trip there, their connection deepens as they realize they both lost family members when they were 9—Billie’s parents, Arthur’s brother. But as Arthur puts it, "Our hearts broke differently.…Mine cracked like it was breaking. Yours cracked like it was opening.” The sticking point to their relationship becoming permanent is the question of a child: Billie had already decided to have one, and her age and her grandmother’s worsening dementia means it will happen within the next year. But Arthur does not want children. As the years pass and their love deepens—despite only texting sporadically on New Year’s Day for much of the time—their opinions and choices change over time as life, and death, continue to march onward. Movielike magic—storytelling, pacing, character development, location, and editing—shines in this story of love, loss, fortitude, and staying true to your convictions but also allowing yourself to grow and change as your values and perspective shift.

A beautifully written tale of kindness and love that honors people for who they are and who they choose to become.