From the New York Times bestselling author of Good Luck with That comes a new novel about a blue-blood grandmother and her black-sheep granddaughter who discover they are truly two sides of the same coin.
Blurb: Emma London never thought she had anything in common with her grandmother Genevieve London. The regal old woman came from wealthy and bluest-blood New England stock, but that didn’t protect her from life’s cruelest blows: the disappearance of Genevieve’s young son, followed by the premature death of her husband. But Genevieve rose from those ashes of grief and built a fashion empire that was respected the world over, even when it meant neglecting her other son.
So what is Emma to do when Genevieve does the one thing Emma never expected of her and, after not speaking to her for nearly two decades, calls and asks for help?
When Emma’s own mother died, her father abandoned her on his mother’s doorstep. Genevieve took Emma in and reluctantly raised her–until Emma got pregnant her senior year of high school. Genevieve kicked her out with nothing but the clothes on her back…but Emma took with her the most important London possession: the strength not just to survive but to thrive. And indeed, Emma has built a wonderful life for herself and her teenage daughter, Riley.
My Thoughts: This book was just so good. It was intense and full of lot of different emotion moments.
This is a story told from several different voices, but the main POV is that of Emma and her cantankerous grandmother Genevieve.
Emma was taken in by her paternal grandma Genevieve after Emma’s mom committed suicide and Emma’s dad was unable to care for her. Genevieve was an old school dowager with exacting standards, so when Emma became pregnant her senior year in high school, Genevieve kicked her out.
17 years later, Emma gets a call to come and spend the summer with her dying grandma. This began the summer journey of forgiveness, healing and reconciliation.
I think this is a story that one should read so this review will be spoiler free. Each character was flawed and the author did an amazing job developing them so you could see why they were the way they were. I don’t make an excuses for their behavior nor do I condone some of the actions, but I could see how they got there.
The secondary characters like Emma’s daughter Riley, Jason and the boys, Miller, grandfather Pop, and the house staff add such depth to this story. There is such care taken to write this story that I am frankly still taking it all in. There is anger, sadness, love, laughter, crazy kids, extended family and their support, growth hope and rediscovery. This book really did have a little of everything that a good woman’s fiction book should have.
I really loved the way we got a chance to be in everyone’s head a little. Some people just refused to grow and others just inspired me to be better. But all in all, the author delivered a great tale with a happy ending. Definitely one of the best reads of 2019.
