If Katarina Bivald's name hadn't been on the cover of this book, I would have 100% identified her as the author after reading the first chapter....not because she resculpts the same old plot changing characters and settings like many writers...but because of the many characteristics I enjoyed so much in her first book The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend. The novel is set in a charming little town, brimming with heart and populated with quirky characters worthy of out loud laughter. Amid those snort inducing episodes, however, are poignant moments. Grab some tissue.
Henny loves everything about her life - her friends, her boyfriend, and her job. In fact, Henny is so happy that she doesn't notice that she is dead - killed in a head on car accident. In time, when day to day life as usual fails her, and she sees people grieving and preparing for her funeral, she accepts, but she does not disappear. Instead, she flows through the lives of her friends, for the first time seeing behind the pretty facades they have been presenting. Henny commits herself to remaining earthly until she can help them rediscover the joy they had once had.
This is not a ghost story. Rather it is story of spirit and good will. The story being told through the voice of deceased Henny troubled me, but not enough for me to abandon these folks I would enjoy having coffee with. In some respects, the essence of Bilvad's book took me back to the final scene in Thornton Wilder's Our Town. Young Emily stands on the edge of the cemetery, watching her funeral. In a joyful but tear-jerking monologue, she bids farewell to the small things in life that she overlooked; now, in death, she has the clarity to see - hair ribbons, clocks ticking, warm wind.
Like Emily, Henny cautions us to be mindful.
Next week? I'm stuck between choosing either Where the Crawdads Sing and Ronan Farrow's book about the Harvey Weinstein/Matt Lauer situations, and the birth of the Me Too movement, Catch and Kill. Such a dilemma. Which would you pick?
Thanks for stopping by.
Henny loves everything about her life - her friends, her boyfriend, and her job. In fact, Henny is so happy that she doesn't notice that she is dead - killed in a head on car accident. In time, when day to day life as usual fails her, and she sees people grieving and preparing for her funeral, she accepts, but she does not disappear. Instead, she flows through the lives of her friends, for the first time seeing behind the pretty facades they have been presenting. Henny commits herself to remaining earthly until she can help them rediscover the joy they had once had.
This is not a ghost story. Rather it is story of spirit and good will. The story being told through the voice of deceased Henny troubled me, but not enough for me to abandon these folks I would enjoy having coffee with. In some respects, the essence of Bilvad's book took me back to the final scene in Thornton Wilder's Our Town. Young Emily stands on the edge of the cemetery, watching her funeral. In a joyful but tear-jerking monologue, she bids farewell to the small things in life that she overlooked; now, in death, she has the clarity to see - hair ribbons, clocks ticking, warm wind.
Like Emily, Henny cautions us to be mindful.
Next week? I'm stuck between choosing either Where the Crawdads Sing and Ronan Farrow's book about the Harvey Weinstein/Matt Lauer situations, and the birth of the Me Too movement, Catch and Kill. Such a dilemma. Which would you pick?
Thanks for stopping by.
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