This was just terrific. So often when an author continues the stories of quirky or unconventional characters, they undergo a transformation in the second book. I guess to make them easier to write about or more fit the mold of a romantic hero or heroine. Not so in this one. Dr. Satan is just as arrogant and obnoxious as ever, and I was turning pages to see if Kristan could manage to make him fall in love and be lovable without compromising the integrity of his personality. She succeeds brilliantly.
After reading Look on the Bright side, I had no real desire to read a book about Dr. Satan aka Dr. Lorenzo Santini. Apparently I was in the vast minority. I was, however, very amenable to revisiting the Smith family and having the boring sensible sister as the heroine. Pairing the two together was perfect. In a family of 3 beautiful and accomplished sisters and a charming handsome brother, Winnie (Windsor) was ‘the other one”: Not beautiful and not brilliant. No one can even remember her name. In a typical KH running joke, Her brother teases her about this affectionately: “Winnebago,” “Winona” “Winster-the-Spinster” “Winipedia,” “Window”, “Winfrey,” “Windmill” “Winnipeg”. … yes, I think that’s all of them. But everyone loves her and depends on her, because she is the most competent person in Christendom. She has made being a “behind the scenes” person work for her.
When her party planning business collapses through no fault of her own, Winnie is hired as the personal assistant of the world renowned surgeon and former fake fiancé of her older sister Lark. He needs someone who can keep his life in order so he can focus on being brilliant. He is intimidating, demanding, cold and is the definition of “arrogant.”
Was he really supposed to go to Whole Foods to buy kale when he could be, oh, saving a life? Teaching future doctors? Writing a paper that would change the way a procedure would be done, therefore raising patient survival rates?… He…didn’t want to have to call the florist himself to order flowers for his mother’s birthday. It was enough that he even remembered his mother’s birthday. Most years, he even called.
Winnie is not intimidated. She knows her worth, and it is not long before Dr. Satan does too. She becomes his right arm and virtually indispensable. She is so good at her job, that Lorenzo realizes that eventually she will organize herself out of his life, no longer having to constantly be at his side to keep his life on an even keel. And that bothers him. He doesn’t know why it bothers him, but it does.
It is a very slow burn romance, and perfectly paced. Dr. Satan (“I’ve been working for you for a month now, can I just call you Satan?”) may start to show some vulnerabilities, sensitivity, and a sense of humor, but then he will do or say something to prove once again he will never quite get off “the spectrum” completely. Things do blow up a few times, (how could they not?) but Kristan never does the predictable thing, to my great relief. Winnie always saves the day with her aversion to drama and unshakeable good sense. I loved her, never more so when she forgets she is the steady predictable one. And yes, she does do that, but only on occasion, and usually under the influence of alcohol.
As always, Kristan’s ability to make you laugh, then touch your heart, make her one of my top 5 favorite authors. One of the few who has never disappointed me the least little bit. This book is described as a novella, but it doesn’t read like one. Her later books are more “women’s fiction” than romance and are great. But this one is unabashedly a romance. And one of her most romantic ones. It is a little shorter because she took a metaphorical red pencil to most of the “women’s fiction” stuff, but somehow left a lot of depth on the page.
I enjoyed re-listening to The Perfect Match so much that I looked for another KH novel I hadn’t read or listened to in a while. This is one of her first books, and one of the first by the author I read. I was surprised to see that I hadn’t already done a review of it. Or maybe Goodreads swallowed it before I could get it on my blog. Although our heroine Maggie is straight out of the Kristan playbook, her hero is one of a kind. Many of her readers would say, “ Thank Goodness!” But I liked him when I wasn’t periodically shaking my head at the same things that drove Maggie up the wall. The two were complete opposites and in some ways served as antidotes to each other. When Maggie got too puppydogish for me, Malone was there to provide balance, and vice versa
Maggie, as many of her heroines are, is a warm and generous “giver.” She cuts her elderly tenants toe nails, she employs a developmentally disabled teen to help in her diner, babysits her niece at the drop of a hat. She pays her head cook more than she, as the owner of a diner, makes herself. She is a good deed doer and she is devoted to her dog. Kristan Higgins never describes her characters’ personalities but shows us what they are about by their words and actions. And almost all of the characters are layered with good and bad qualities like real people. One example is Maggie’s difficult mother. She is very unlikable and insensitive. Yet, she has a kind of endearing malapropism quirk. She’s always full of advice and helpful platitudes: “When the Lord closes a door, a window breaks,” and “A rolling stone gathers no dirt” come to mind. Later we find out there is more to her than meets the eye, although she will always be more Mommie Dearest than Marmee. You can’t hate a person too much who also makes you laugh. And their relationship at the end is in a good place. But I digress.
Maggie is a single 33 year old who longs for a husband and family of her own like her twin sister Christy. Three things have gotten in the way of this. She was rudely and publicly dumped in front of her whole town by her longtime boyfriend after they graduated from college. (Yet Skip and his sweet wife are a happy family with three daughters-so as always, KH doesn’t take the obvious path). The pickings of good eligible men in her home town of Gideon’s Cove are pretty slim. And she is in love with the local parish priest. And unfortunately he is Roman Catholic, not Episcopalian. After a series of disastrous and funny blind dates (which were to become a KH mainstay in her future books), she finally meets her destiny in Malone, “Maloner the Loner”, a local lobster man. This happens not until almost a third of the way into the book. Maggie has lots of other things to talk about to the reader. That’s another of her character traits. She is a blabbermouth. Not a gossip, but an over-sharer who starts to babble when she feels uncomfortable, which is rather a lot of the time. Malone is completely opposite to Maggie: very unsociable, brooding, and mysterious. He gives new meaning to “the strong silent type” hero. Neither Maggie nor the reader even know his first name till the very end of the book. Yet he is a very hard worker, is genuinely respected, even liked by the community, and has a daughter he loves and is seen to unbend with when she visits. Every so often Maggie thinks she detects a quirk in his lips that might be a smile and that he just might have a sense of humor behind his dour exterior. Also Maggie’s dog likes him, and he has come to Maggie’s rescue twice: Once on an 10 mile walk home after a bike crash, and once from social humiliation when she is stood up by one of her blind dates. After that incident, Maggie and Malone finally start seeing each other.
Most of the rest of their relationship consists of Maggie trying to get two words in a row out of Malone. He is very uncommunicative and Maggie has no idea what their relationship really is. The reader is similarly in the dark about what is going on in his head. Meanwhile Maggie is the opposite of that. For the most part, I loved this tension of their completely opposite personalities. Something had to give. Malone was very much an enigma and this fostered a lot of anticipation of what was going on. We know him and his feelings by his actions not his words. At one point, Maggie dresses up as her twin to confront Father Tim about something and no one sees through her disguise except Malone. From across the street.
On this re-read, there were some things that bothered me more than before. I don’t really have a major problem with Embarrassment Humor as such, as long as it’s funny. But there was an incident with Maggie getting drunk and hurtling towards public doom that was really yikes. I didn’t like it when she hears part of a conversation (while sneaking around and eavesdropping no less) and jumps to an insulting conclusion about Malone. She does not handle it well. I really did not like her for this part of the book. But Malone’s reaction when she finally comes to her senses was just as frustrating. I didn’t know which one to be more disgusted with or side with. Another character that bothered me this time was Father Tim. He was described as such a good, kind, and compassionate man and the perfect priest. But he takes advantage of Maggie’s generosity and willingness to volunteer her services to the church in the name of friendship. She wasn’t even an active member. He should have been doing his best to keep his distance, but he did just the opposite. It kind of gave me the creeps at times, although no lines were crossed. In the end, we see his loneliness and it’s a bit sad. Thankfully, although she still had a soft spot for him, her crush on Father Tim was pretty much at an end as soon as she gets together with Malone.
Maggie has a more clear-eyed view of herself and Father Tim by the end of the book. As lovable as she is, Maggie had some work to do on herself as well. As does Malone who has also learnt some things and changed for the better. I thought it was a nice touch that though she is far from religious, she realizes that church may have something to offer her besides a handsome priest. We get a peek at Gideon’s Cove and Joe’s Diner in a subsequent book and all is well with Maggie and Malone.
The key, she had learned, was to live in the here and now. Not the back then or the what-if, but right now. Not to worry about the shadows or the times of sorrow and darkness. They would come, of course. No one was immune. The trick was to carry hope and determination like a torch into the dark times. The way Justin had in his last few months. The way she would now. The trick, Lark now knew, was to look on the bright side.
This is the third in a row of Kristan’s books set in Wellfleet, Massachusetts on Cape Cod and so far, it is my favorite. To me, it had a great mix of hilarity, heart-rending emotion, character portrayal and growth, and romance. Not to mention one of Kristan’s signature laugh-till-you-cry extended comic situations where she pulls out all the stops. The one in this reminded me of a scene in a little-known movie from the 90s starring Billy Crystal and Debra Winger titledForget Paris. The movie was not all that good, but there was one scene where Debra Winger gets a pigeon stuck in her hair which is an absolute scream. Anyway, when you get to the Renaissance Fair part make sure you are alone or with non-judgemental loved ones unless you don’t mind making a public spectacle of yourself.
We met Lark first in Little Ray of Sunshine, the previous Wellfleet book. She is the unpleasant Abigail’s twin sister and we don’t see much of her because she is a busy doctor. But we know she is really nice. In Look on the Bright Side, we learn that she has been reassigned from her specialty, Oncology, to work in the Emergency Room. She has been committed to working with cancer patients because the love of her life, Justin, died from leukemia 7 years prior. Desperate to get back, she enters into an agreement with a brilliant surgeon, Dr. Lorenzo Santini, who works at the same hospital. If she will pretend to be his girlfriend at family events leading up to his sister’s wedding, he will use his considerable influence to see that she gets back to Oncology. Okay, Great, I thought, fake boy/girlfriend is one of my favorite tropes. Sign me up. And I was intrigued by “Dr. Satan” as he is called. I also love the grumpy/sunshine opposites attract trope. And Dr. Satan is very grumpy indeed. There is a reason why he needs to hire a girlfriend. He could not be any more different than Lark who is tender-hearted, sweet, and very very empathetic. These traits, in fact, are the reason why she was reassigned from Oncology. She is “a weeper”, taking too much to heart and in danger of losing her objectivity when it comes to her patients. She was sent to Emergency to toughen up. We love Lark for her tender heart but also because she is extremely intelligent, funny, and spirited. She doesn’t take any guff from Dr. Satan either. He terrifies everyone in his path, but not Lark.
But then Kristan does the unexpected and turns the grumpy/sunshine fake dating tropes on their head. See, Lorenzo Santini is not difficult in an intriguing more -there-than-on-the-surface-will-be- redeemed-by-love way, but in a truly hateful way. No, he is not evil, but is the typical stereotype of the egomaniac surgeon with a god complex. Also he is a snob and a braggart. It probably took me a tad too long to give up on one of my favorite tropes and realize that Dr. Satan was not salvageable and Lark would have her happy ending with someone else entirely. In fairness though, KH was tricky and kept me guessing by hinting that maybe he wasn’t as black as he seemed. I kept hoping. What made it easier for me to let hope for Dr. Satan go was that her real love interest was so obviously perfect for her and very very attractive and likable.
So the love story was great. If it had only been about that, the book would have been wonderful. But this is Kristan Higgins, and there was so very much more. Lark’s parents have a crisis in their “perfect” marriage. We meet tacky botoxed fabulously wealthy but unfulfilled Joy who becomes a great friend to both Lark and her mother. And Joy, in turn, has her life changed for the better by them. We get to know Dr. Santini’s large Italian family who are as warm and ebullient (with one exception) as Dr. Santini is the opposite. Kristan brings on the tears and emotion with a deep dive into Lark’s beautiful but tragic romance with Justin. Every character, no matter how small is exquisitely drawn. And let’s not forget Lark’s adventures in the emergency room!
As much as I loved the last 6 or 7 of Kristan’s books, I had my quibbles with them even though many were 5 stars for me. But this one? No quibbles whatsoever. The story is topped by a rousing and fingernail-biting scene in which our heroine becomes a heroine for real. I couldn’t have asked for a better ending. There is even a whiff of hope for Dr. Satan at the end.
The familiar surge of anger and love for her teenage son stabbed at her. Her boy, her beautiful, precious son, had not included her in one of the most important moments of his life. The little shit.
“Thank God for you, Harlow,” Mom would sigh once in a while. “I never have to spare you a thought.” It might have been a compliment.
In this, her 23rd book, Kristan returns to Wellfleet, Massachusetts (a real place) the setting of Out of The Clear Blue Sky. This is not the first time that she has set more than one book in the same town and consequently, we have had the pleasure of catching up with some old acquaintances.
This book was terrific and, In my opinion, even better than OOTCBS. The romance took more center stage in this one, though the book is not a romance book. I liked the guy better. It seemed like there was more to him and he seemed more important to the story. With its many strands, this one dug deeper, had many more layers, and though funny, not so comical (not that the former book did not have its serious side.) We are treated to one of the hilariously disastrous blind dates that Kristan seems to include in most of her books. Poor Harlow.
“How about you?” I asked. “What do you like to read?” “I’m not much of a reader,” he said. So he was dead inside. Got it.
No, not a reader, but he is a talented poet. On his ex-wife:
Pete cleared his throat. “ ‘You ruined my life. I thought you’d be my forever wife.’ ” Definitely should’ve asked to record it. “ ‘But you brought me strife. Like a sharp and hacking knife. Cutting through my heart. Instead of cherishing it like a piece of art. And pierced it with a dart.’ ” He glanced at me to see if I was paying attention. I was. “ ‘You are still in my head. But now I dream of you dead.’ ” I almost cracked on the last line, but kept my expression neutral. After all, the serial killer odds had skyrocketed.
Lately, Kristan has been centering her books around big dramatic topics including morbid obesity and body dysmorphia, terminal illness, infidelity, and dissolution of long-term happy marriages. Toxic, or at least, troublesome parenting has always been a mainstay. In this, she tackles adoption. It was an education. I never really gave a lot of thought to how giving up a child for adoption could be so emotionally devastating for such a long time. Even if it is the best and wisest decision for the good of all concerned, as it usually is. And how the love and connection between birth-parent and child can endure. The challenges of being an adopted child are explored as well, though not in the depth that the mothers’ are explored. If the adoptive parents are wonderful and loving and in an optimal financial situation, there can still be troubles. At first, all of the feelings seemed a little over the top, but Kristan did her research.
The primary voice in this novel is that of Harlow, a 35-year-old single bookstore owner who gave her baby up for adoption when she was 17. Her dream comes true when he finds her and wants to get to know her. She is ecstatic. Not so ecstatic are his adoptive parents, Monica and Sanjay Patel. Although they have always been open and supportive of their son one day finding his birth mother (with whom they once had a mutually loving relationship), they are blindsided by the situation, thanks to their son Matthew’s typically teenage thoughtlessness in how he goes about reconnecting. But as the Patels and Harlow and her family get to know each other everything goes fairly smoothly. After all, everyone involved is civilized, educated, and goodhearted. Of course, there are hiccups and stormy waters. Harlow’s parents are angry and hurt that she has kept her son a secret all these years.
“Mom. Dad. I did what I thought was right for my baby. If you can’t respect that, well, maybe you’re not who I thought you were. Addison and Nicole, if all you care about is Esme being the oldest, you won’t lay eyes on my boy. Grandpop, Robbie and Winnie . . . you’ve been great.” “Maybe you’re not who we thought you were, either, Harlow,” Dad said. “And who did you think I was, Dad? Huh?” My voice was loud, and I felt hot all over. “Mom? Who was I in this family? Your unpaid nanny? Aside from me being the helpful one, I was . . . nothing. I was barely there…. Grandpop stood up, his knees popping. “Harlow is a wonderful person,” he said. “She did her best under very difficult circumstances. If she chose not to take her problems to us, well, maybe we need to do some soul-searching.
Indeed some soul-searching is called for on their part, which they do. One of the almost too many themes is how one’s place and role in the family affects your life and decisions. Grandpop is a delight and the source of much of the humor in this book. And I love how his incipient dementia is handled by his family and friends. There are many side characters, each deftly drawn, including Harlow’s siblings, her loyal best friend Rosie, Grandpop’s girlfriend Frances, and Grady and his daughter Luna. And not to mention the dog. Yes, all goes pretty well as Matthew, his Mom and Dad, and his precocious sister Meena spend the summer in Wellfleet. Until Matthew drops a bomb on his family and Harlow too this time, towards the end of vacation when it’s time to go home to California.
Harlow’s perspective is alternated with Monica’s point of view and also a 50-something distant cousin, Cynthia, who is part owner of the bookstore and was also adopted. Cynthia gives an alternate perspective on adoption. Although she loved her adoptive mother and father and they loved her, she would have been a happier and better person had she been able to be raised by her birth parents. I hated going to her viewpoint because she was just so nasty and unpleasant until about the halfway point when some interesting changes started to happen in her life. Every time it came to Cynthia’s part in the tale, It made me tense up. Could Cynthia’s section have been left out of this 500+ page novel? Maybe. But her story provided a good bit of good tension and suspense. And ultimately her character arc was heartwarming as well as providing another thought-provoking adoption experience.
Monica is in the high-tension Internet Security field and the main breadwinner of the two-income Patel family allowing them to have a very affluent lifestyle. But it has resulted in an imbalance in their marriage and a lot of stress and pressure on Monica. She and Sanjay are very happily married, but Sanjay is the laid-back “fun parent” and Monica is the enforcer. I love how things are finally righted, both in her marriage and her career. Female empowerment is alive and well. It is through Monica that we gain most of the insight into Matthew’s character. Although he is mostly a good kid and will turn out fine, we know early on he is not exactly “ a Ray of Sunshine”.
Of course, I have some quibbles. **a little spoilery** Although it did move the story and the drama forward, I was very disappointed in how Harlow handled the crisis at the end of the book. I felt it was out of character for her to go against Monica and Sanjay’s wishes no matter how much she yearned to be Mommy. I didn’t like how she shut down part of her life to provide Matthew a perfect little cocoon while he was staying with her. It wasn’t real and it wasn’t wise. A dose of reality would have been good for him. I didn’t understand what was behind her thinking that she couldn’t be with Grady long term because she would somehow harm his child just because she chose adoption for Matthew. Rosie’s alcoholism side story seemed needless in an already long book. I’m just speaking objectively because, bottom line, If the book had been twice as long, I still would have enjoyed every page. I just love her stories and her writing.
Perhaps addiction will be her next big topic and the previously mentioned character will feature in that one. Pure speculation, but I wouldn’t be a bit surprised. I would return to Wellfleet in a heartbeat.
I could tell from the git-go that Kristan Higgins’ new book, in some ways, was a return to her lighter fare of yesteryear after her recent forays into more serious women’s fiction. As much as I love and even esteem her more recent books, (4 out of 7 were 5-star reads for me)I welcomed her return to her days of yore. It was great to see that a beloved author can, in a sense, “go home again” no matter what Thomas Wolfe says. I say, “in some ways.” Her first books were definitely romantic comedies while incorporating emotional serious issues along with the fun. And this one has that lighthearted tone. But this one is not a romance. Not at all. The book concludes with our heroine in a satisfying hopeful relationship with a great guy. But the journey to that end is a very minor aspect of Lillie’s personal journey.
The book begins as our heroine, a happily married mother of a son about to leave for college in far away Montana learns that her husband, Brad, “out of the clear blue sky”, tells her he is leaving her for a beautiful, younger, and wealthy woman, Melissa. The story is told in first person by Lillie with occasional contributions from “the whore” who has a substantial journey of her own. Actually more substantial than Lillie’s, truth be told. Lillie is a 41-year-old nurse-midwife on Cape Cod who loves her family, her home, and her community in which she is a popular fixture. Everyone knows and loves her. At first, all she wants is revenge, and her brilliantly successful efforts are very funny. Yes, we know her stunts are petty, childish, and even mean. And she knows it too, but darn it, she just can’t help it. Brad deserves it all and more. But even as we laugh at Lillie’s antics, we start to get to know Melissa, her other victim. Yes, she is shallow (she almost makes it an art form), materialistic, a user, and a husband stealer. But such is Kristan’s imagination and craft, that as we learn her story and get to know her, you (by which I mean I) got to kinda like her and actually admire her. There was a lot to “Missy Jo” that was quite endearing (word of the day!). I didn’t always like and admire Lillie. Lillie has a lot of growing to do and challenges to overcome. In addition to losing her son (in a way) and her husband and his family, she tackles a problematic mother (a Kristan Higgins fixture) a fractured relationship with a once-beloved sister, financial difficulties, a childhood trauma that continues to impact her life, a terrible tragedy in her past, and even a professional nemesis who must be vanquished. It’s kind of amazing all of the issues that are explored in this book, without the tone turning dark. As in all of Kristan’s books, there are some epic scenes, both hilarious ones and triumphant ones. And, as always, some great lines:
*He studied the wine list like it was a lost gospel
*”What’s your daughter’s name?” “Ophelia.” I winced. Who names their kid after the doomed innocent who commits suicide in Hamlet?
*…my own mother, who had the same maternal instincts as a lizard that eats her own eggs.
*“Calm down,” he said, because women love hearing that.
*“Name’s Harminee. Spellin’ it different to be special. Harminee Fawn.” Well, that would just about guarantee the baby would become a stripper, Melissa thought. Harmony was a beautiful name. Harminee though? Gosh.
*I turned on the outdoor lights and peered out. It was a woman dressed in high boots, a fur coat, fur hat and fur gloves. It was either Lara from Doctor Zhivago or Melissa. Sadly, it was not Lara.
*“Thanks for buying me,” Ophelia whispered. She took a shaky breath, and Melissa knew she was crying, and hugged her close.
And as always, we are blessed with another Kristan Higgins trademark, an adorable dog with personality plus. So what kept this from being one the best of the best Kristan Higgins novels ever? Two things. First of all, I found that Lillie was a little too hung up on her son. The time between the marriage breaking up, keeping that from him so as not to ruin his last weeks at home, and him leaving for college really dragged for me. I honestly couldn’t wait for him to go. Thank goodness Dylan was an independent, well-adjusted kid (yes, thanks to Lillie being a perfect mother). No woman ever loved a son more than Lillie loves hers. And she does go on about it. And no son is more perfect. I couldn’t really blame her.
Of course, no husband who cheats on his wife will ever be a hero. But Brad “Bridiot” Fairchild has got to be the most contemptible human being on Cape Cod or in any Kristan Higgins book ever. Not the evilest Kristan Higgins creation, I hasten to clarify, because she has created some doozies. Even Melissa started to see his true colors before the ink was barely dry on the marriage license. And Lillie was married to this pompous pretentious dickhead for 20 years? Happily? And mourned his loss (or the loss of who she thought he was) so dramatically and sincerely? As she looks back on him and their life together, she sees him clearly. Getting shot of him should have been #bestdayever, #Thank-youGod, #IoweMelissabigtime, #GoodRiddance. I have to admit I got very impatient with our heroine. Maybe even a little disdainful? To be fair, late in the book she does explain why the strong Lillie was happy with the weakling husband, but not until the 96% mark! I think Kristan kind of piled on a little too much when it came to Mr. Brad Fairchild (that’s Dr.Fairchild, huh, huh, huh.), as entertaining as his weaknesses and assholery were. It intruded on the credibility of her main character.
As I finished the book (kept trying to stretch it out!) I felt that this must be one of her shorter books. But it turns out that it was actually one of her longer ones. I think that is a high compliment. I can’t wait to see what her next one is like.
The stars are not wanted now; put out every one, Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun, Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood; For nothing now can ever come to any good.
from “Funeral Blues” by W.H.Auden
I knew I was in trouble when my throat started to close up on page two. Kristan goes further down a darker path that is leading her books away from the touching yet hilarious and witty romantic comedies that she built her early reputation on. This book is a deep exploration of the grief and pain of losing a beloved spouse way too young. Letters are both the basis and the jumping-off point of how Kristan tells the story.
After the devasting loss of 31-year-old Josh’s lovely 28-year-old wife to a terminal illness, we go with him on his journey for a little over a year afterward. Lauren has left him 12 letters one for each month to be opened after her death. In each loving missive, she gives him a task that is meant to help him heal. The first one is to go to the grocery store by himself. The last one is to find another woman with whom to share his life (and she has someone in mind.) Lauren’s letters to Josh move the story forward and Lauren’s private letters to her beloved dead father fill us in on the past. Interestingly those take us from 8 days before her death backward to when Lauren was 18 and first met Josh.
Although Josh is a genius who became a millionaire at age 18 with his patents for cutting-edge medical devices, he is also “on the spectrum”, as they say now, with Asperger syndrome. Without his beloved Lauren, he is lonely and lost. More so than a typical widower would be. He has no friends of his own and doesn’t function well in social situations. . Lauren was his love, but also his guide. And in turn, Lauren worshiped the ground he walked on. He has plenty of support from his own family and Lauren’s friends and family who are all devoted to him. He is so vulnerable although Kristan wisely does not make a huge issue of his disability. Most of the book is from Josh’s point of view and we see signs of the “neurodiversity” in his thoughts and actions, but we are not hit over the head with it. It is handled beautifully and contributes humor as well as pathos to the story.
The other thing that Kristan handled beautifully is Josh and Lauren’s incandescent love, their pain and grief, Lauren’s physical struggles with and progression of her disease, IPF, and her death. From what I know of Kristan, she has not personally experienced all of these things but one would never know it, so authentic and heartrending is her writing concerning them. I kept pausing in my reading marveling how she could possibly know what she knew unless she knew. If that makes any sense.
We get to know and be invested in all of the people in Josh’s life after Lauren. This book is not all sadness and pain. There are some classic Kristan Higgins scenes and people. Pebbles, the dog. Josh’s dinner party. Gertie the Medium and what happens when Josh and his surrogate father Ben visit her is my favorite. How anyone’s life could not be changed by such an encounter, I don’t understand. There are other favorites as well, one of which I can’t mention because it would be too much of a spoiler. But it is the task Lauren gives Josh in month 10. Radley, Josh’s first real guy friend. And I love the hapless waitress Josh keeps encountering from chapter 11 on. I wish we had had much more of her. She would fit right into one of Kristan’s earlier romantic comedies. And we are blessed with a “3 years later” epilogue.
It’s hard to give a rating for this book, because as beautiful, insightful, and touching as it is, there is too much sadness and pain for me personally, even though it is leavened with humor throughout. The good news is, that Kristan’s next book has to be happier because she couldn’t get any more sad, right?**4.25 stars**
The heart wants what the heart wants, and the heart can be areal idiot.
In the latest of Kristan Higgins’ wonderful novels, we return to Stoningham Connecticut, the setting of her last book, Life and Other Inconveniences. It is deep dive into another prominent family that calls wealthy, exclusive, and the oh-so picturesque community home. One by one we are introduced to the 4 main players: Sadie, Barb, Juliet, and finally John. This is Sadie, the youngest daughter:
Ever since I could remember, I’d wanted to leave Stoningham, because even though I loved it, I hated it. It was so smug. So content. So adorable. So assured of itself. In a way, it was like my sister, never questioning its value. It was hard to breathe [there] sometimes, especially if you were Juliet’s not-as-smart-or-athletic sister, or the daughter of Barb Frost, Queen of Committees and Volunteerism, daughter of John Frost the lawyer, and yes, related to that Robert Frost. Being average was difficult.
Right away we see that it is a family divided with Sadie and John on one side and Juliet and Barb on the other. Unlike other readers, I was drawn in immediately and was in a state of anticipation as to what would be further revealed and explored. And it never lost its grip on me. I started out trying to take sides. Which team was I on? It wasn’t long before I gave that approach up. It was way too complicated. There were things to love, like, hate, and disapprove of in all of them. Except for Juliet. Because she was perfect. As the book went on, I found I couldn’t put it down. And to my surprise, It was Juliet’s journey I loved the most.
Well, I better stop now while I can before I start to gush even more. Yes, like all of her books, it was funny, heartbreaking, suspenseful, romantic, and satisfying. In many ways, this was her best book yet. It’s a triumph of character and relationship building. And one of the best dogs too.
P.S. And the icing on the cake is we get a peek or two at what the London family of her last novel is up to.**5 stars out of 5**
Once, I had loved my grandmother and wanted desperately for her to love me. That hadn’t happened. Try getting someone to love you for ten years and failing . . . It leaves a mark.
All had names, which Riley read aloud as we passed. “Thrush Hill. Summerly. Wisteria Cottage. Cliff View. Pop, we have to name our house when we get back!” “Name it what? Crabgrass?” Pop asked.
I guess the fact that I have 69 highlights says it all. I really enjoyed this book by one of my top 3 favorite authors. It is a character study. I should say characters study with an “s”. Some we spend a great deal of time with (Genevieve) and some only get one good scene (Robert). if they have a name, they are deftly drawn for good or ill. But I loved them all. Which is to say I loved the ones we are supposed to love, which was most of them. The main characters that are not lovable are so well drawn that you can’t hate them unconditionally. You understand why they are like they are, and it’s not always completely their fault. A few that did not have a bit of redemption were not hate-worthy, just contempt-worthy. But you can’t dismiss them. The drawing of Jason’s character was a realization late in the book when a few truths are revealed. Even the most minor of characters had their surprising moments.
The humor was mostly in the form of witty repartee, retorts, and inner reflections, but as in almost all of her books, Kristan does include one of her signature bad date scenes which was screamingly funny. One of her best. Here is a recap by Miller, Emma’s partner in possibly the worst first date ever:
“It’s not fine!” he almost yelled. “Why are you being so . . . great about this? My kid is a sociopath, I’m a horrible father, I picked a pirate restaurant for our first date where someone almost died, you started off the night with beautiful hair and now you’re bald, we’re both covered in blood and corn oil, and Kimmy just texted me to say she forgot to mention that Tess put her own feces in the DVD player. My life is literally shit and blood these days.” He took a shaking breath and looked at the floor. “Well,” I said, “who really watches DVDs anymore?” “Emma,” he began, and I hugged him.
The book was very satisfying. Everyone who needed telling off got told off, everyone that deserved to be happy was rewarded. The overarching mystery (what happened to Sheppard?) was solved. There were moments that were so touching I wept. The romance, even though it didn’t take up many pages was just right. And towards the end, there were some surprises and revelations that took you unawares. Most of all we have Kristan’s intimate and engaging voice that makes the reader, at least me, feel they are right there and part of it all and not on the outside looking in. **5 stars out of 5**
We’ve all seen the shows—thank you, TLC—and let’s be honest. We watch them to make ourselves feel better. Sure, I was fat, but not six-hundred-pounds fat! I wasn’t having KFC fed to me through my bedroom window, was I? I didn’t need the firefighters to chainsaw around the front door so I could fit through, didn’t need a team of eight to drag me out of the house on a sheet. And I always ate healthy food while watching that show. No ice cream during that one, no sir. Ice cream was for The Walking Dead (another show that made me feel good about my appearance).
Kristan was wrongly, in my opinion, accused of fat-shaming in this book. Is the above passage an example of this?
This is my second favorite of her more serious books. Despite the painful and controversial subject matter and the tragic fate of Emerson, it seemed to have a more positive tone than some of the preceding novels, particularly Now that you Mention it. Yes, there was humor in the form of witty and irreverent comments and one or two slapstick episodes. But mostly this book was about triumph, hope, and happy, almost fairytale happy, endings. Also important, to me, is that the good people are rewarded and the bad people are punished. Except for Emerson.
The descent and final fate of Emerson is very sad. Very sad. But it did not cast a pall over the whole book because we already know her fate at the beginning of the book. Her story is told in first person entries in her diary, and is a fairly small percentage of the whole story. Her thoughts and entries were poignant and eye-opening. Because we know what happens, we are spared the suspense and disappointed hopes that she might have her own happy ending. Emerson is rich and I questioned throughout the narrative why doesn’t she get the best therapy money could buy and surgery? That question was not answered by the end, to my satisfaction.
There has been a small percentage of people who have deemed this book toxic to those struggling with weight. I have been quick to defend my favorite contemporary author on numerous venues. But now that I have read the book, I can more easily understand why those who identify with the Emerson character would find it painful. I still feel that “Toxic” is a hateful word that should not be used to describe this book. It is not sugar-coated and is unflinching. It says out loud what many people think. The quotes used to bash this book are taken out of context, however. Kristan has taken on a difficult sensitive topic. She deserves a medal for bravery. The Entertainment Weekly review compared it to “willingly wading into a nest of vipers.” That’s a little overstated, but unfortunately, there is some truth to the comparison. It made me chuckle a bit while wincing. Did she please everyone? No. I consider the passionate negative reaction by some to be a sort of a compliment. Perhaps the topic should be ignored? Her message is body positivity without leaving truth and pain by the wayside. Those who are Reality show fat rarely have happy endings. Truth.
But it is not all about weight issues. Her book is populated with characters that have PTSD and agoraphobia, Plastic surgery addiction, adolescent pain and suicide, anger issues, and it deals with childhood death. The fact that these topics are addressed and the book can still be fun and funny with two heartwarming love stories is a testament to Kristan’s talent. The book is thought-provoking and insightful. One of the incidents that really stands out in my mind is when now slender Georgia goes to her GP because of attacks of stomach pain. The doctor ignores everything she says because of her focus and delight in Georgia’s weight-loss. She is so busy congratulating her and making excuses for her pain that a short time later Georgia is rushed to the hospital with a bleeding ulcer because of her lack of treatment. Not the only time a woman, fat or not, has been ignored or not taken seriously. It adds an extra layer that Georgia’s doctor is a woman.
Some of the characters conquer their demons and others don’t. But all are given cheer-worthy wake-up calls courtesy of our two main heroines. **5 out of 5 stars**
At night, after a supper of Food That Would Keep Us Alive, Tweety occasionally eating a piece of bread from my mother’s lips, as I struggled not to dry heave or mention bird-borne pathogens, I’d ask Poe if she wanted to play Scrabble or Apples to Apples or Monopoly. Shockingly, she did not and would go upstairs to listen to more screamo music.
I finished Now That You Mention It, in one day. I did like it, obviously, because I couldn’t put it down. But it’s not amongst my favorite Kristan Higgins. I’m not sure why. It’s a more serious novel about a dysfunctional family and how those that remain are reconciled. It is about two young girls and how the abandonment by their father wreaks devastating consequences for them both. One ends up in prison and our heroine, Nora, manages to pull herself out of the black hole of her childhood and become a doctor through hard work and leaving the cruel and hurtful climate of her childhood home by winning a scholarship to Tufts University. The Higgins humor is still there, just not as pervasive as in her early works. Here’s one of my favorite descriptions of her Mother:
I still had my Maine medical license, just in case my mom ever needed me in an emergency, though she wasn’t the type to have emergencies, and certainly not the type to call me if she did. Say a grizzly bear came down from Canada and bit off her arm. Mom would just shoot the bear, sew her arm back on with the thick black thread she used to sew our buttons back on when we were kids, then butcher the bear, make it into chili and use the skin as a rug.
Classic Higgins. Nora’s Mom is the acme of Higgins’ long line of crazy mothers. There are also 2 classic slapstick comedy episodes that had me laughing out loud.
It is certainly not the light frothy romance of her early efforts. Although even then she was delving into pain and dysfunction. Her two novels prior to this one were certainly more women’s fiction than romance and I loved them. Her bridge between the two genres was one of my favorites: Anything for You. I think the main reason this is on the periphery of “great” for me was that the romance part seemed a little tacked on rather than being an integral part of the story. It could have been cut out completely and hardly missed. In addition, there were some things I really didn’t understand. The drama and conflict did not seem well supported.
The inexplicables: **spoilers**
Why did she put up with her sister’s mess for so long? Why was she such a victim and martyr when it came to her worthless, cruel, and destructive sister? Why did she still love her so much?
Why was her mother so cold and blind to Nora’s childhood suffering? Why didn’t she try to reach out to her later in life? Everyone could see that Nora was a kind, strong, lovely, and smart woman. Why was she still so mean to her? I mean, I can understand Maine’s reserve and stoicism, but this woman was so distant and unsympathetic to her wonderful daughter who would have made any parent so proud. And only her daughter. She was well-liked and respected in the community and doted on her pet bird, and she started a hug therapy business, for heaven’s sake. Where did that come from? Nora did nothing to deserve such apparent indifference.
Why did her winning the Perez scholarship cause such hostility in the community? Why was she blamed for the accident? How could she blame herself? Many knew of Luke, the town golden boy’s, drugging and slipping grades. The teachers knew he hadn’t even come close to winning the scholarship and it was Nora’s all along. Luke knew it. His doting mother would have known about his grade slippage. Yet they blamed Nora for “stealing” the prize. This is a small isolated community. More people would have known and spread the word. Nora was a daughter of one of the mainstays of the community. She wasn’t some intruder. Come on. He flunked out of Maine Uni. Whose fault was that? After the bullying and cruelty Nora endured as a child, how could any of the townspeople blame her for not coming back for 15 years?
How could it have taken Poe so long to love and appreciate her Aunt? **end spoilers**
All in all, I did enjoy the book. The suspense of unanswered questions, high anticipation of events that were bound to happen, and characters one gets greatly invested in kept me reading throughout the day. I was pleasantly surprised that she stayed clear of certain dramatic and potentially angst-ridden events that could have happened but didn’t. I was just a little disappointed in the romance and some of the plot points. ***3.5 stars***
