ONCE AND AGAIN

If you could undo one moment in your life, what would it be?

For Lauren Novak, a 37-year-old accountant in West Hollywood, California, that question isn’t an ice breaker to ask at a party, but an essential part of her being. Because Lauren—along with her mother, Marcella, and grandmother Sylvia—received something special at birth: a silver ticket that would allow her to undo a single event. And while some might see this as a gift from the universe, Lauren views it as a millstone around her neck: “The world is full of tragedy. There are fires that kill thousands of people, guns that kill hundreds at a clip. I could stop it, maybe. Travel there, capture the ember, point out the backpack. I could help. Every day, every year, there are things I could undo…” When Lauren’s husband, Leo, goes to New York for a summer job opportunity, Lauren moves in with her parents and grandmother in Malibu. As Lauren, who is working through the trauma she feels after multiple failed fertility attempts, makes a series of questionable decisions involving her ex-boyfriend Stone, the silver ticket begins to look more and more appealing. But Lauren has felt the effects of the ticket her entire life: When she was a teenager, her father, Dave, died in a car crash, and Marcella used hers to bring him back. Marcella has spent the ensuing years being overprotective of her husband, to the detriment, Lauren feels, of her relationship with her daughter. Lauren has to decide whether to follow the naturally rocky course of her life or take back her mistakes. The book is at its best as Serle combs through the messy relationships among the three generations of women. Her strength as a storyteller becomes clear about halfway through the book as the tone shifts from magical rom-com to poignant reflection on the price of a person’s decisions, and how far someone will go to save the ones they love.

Deeply and surprisingly moving.