This
is one of the few times where I really did not have a favorite character. I enjoyed
each one and for different reasons. Lily is the main character here and experiences some much needed personal stamina and growth who has always felt somewhat defeated in life from having a cold and indifferent mother for as long as she can remember. Even her father seems to have barely existed.
Each
character had their own story, just like each of our own friends and friends we
have yet to meet. The mother was not generally approachable and had actually “paid”
someone to be her friend in her own home. As is my nature, I did wonder what
caused her to distance herself from her daughter(s). I knew that I would
eventually learn the truth about Lily and Camille's mother and the
"real" story about the separation of the twins (Lily and Camille) and
it was written in such a way to hold my interest vs. flipping to the back of
the book for an instant answer. The twins were separated shortly after birth
but Lily was not aware she even had a twin until it was mentioned by her mother
during a meeting that was ten years in the making. Yes, Lily had not spoken to her mother for
ten years, not even when Lily’s husband had died the previous year. It seems that
Camille was living in Australia, had recently sent a letter to her biological
mother and had always known about Lily’s existence. Lily decides to make a trek to Australia to
find this long lost sister and hopefully get some answers since the mother was
certainly not forthcoming.
Lily
meets and makes a friend shortly after arriving to Australia with someone else
who seems to have come to another country to get some answers. His name is Marcus, is somewhat unkempt,
personable, appears to have a free spirit but insists he is living off the trust
fund that he created. His story includes
a deliberate lack of communication with his parents and also a pleasant surprise
for Lily. No I am not talking about their predictable romance. Without giving
away too many details, I must admit to certainly understand where the story
ends without including an ending for his parent’s story. Losing a child,
whatever the circumstances, can create a void and serious disconnect with
family and friends. In time one may/can
learn to endure the pain of loss but only through open communication, lots of
love and prayer, without a blame game or physical separation from those that
need to be near you, even when you do not see/understand/recognize that need. Yes,
I am speaking from personal experience.
I
really, really liked Camille and her story builds over the course of the book
starting in Australia and her new beginning (sort of) back in the USA. She
experiences more than one tragedy, one of which breaks open the hard-hearted
birth mother, and made me cry. It is
from this accident that we learn the mothers’ story and it is quite a story in
itself.
With
the mother coming into my review now, I also must add that part of me really wanted
an expanded storyline about the mother at that point in the book, not that
there was anything missing or additional information needed. The section was complete but to know what she
experienced left me wanting more. It was a pivotal point for me and I immediately
liked her plus understood her self-protection mode for withdrawal from her
children and from affection in general. It was like a dam had burst inside this
woman and her desire for a relationship with her daughters, while not
spontaneous, did start growing from that point and continued throughout the
remainder of the story. The things that
we as women do to ourselves when we are so devastatingly hurt by situations we thought
that we could control or people we want to save but cannot, even with the best
of plans.
Hopefully,
we will see another book which will follow the life of the sister who Lily’s
daughter affectionately calls Aunt Cam. Stories about twins can be especially
entertaining (to me) and not in ways in which most of us can relate. In this
book, life's lessons for them were different yet the same.
I
have read many of her book and we met as members of the Women's Business Forum.
She is a delight on many levels and always the lady. As much as I have enjoyed
her early writings, this one shows sign of growth and development as a writer. Her
characters are better developed and the story lines have greater depth. Of
note, I have pre-ordered her next two books which will be released in November
and December, respectively.
I highly recommend her as an author. Her genre
is Contemporary, Christian, romance and mystery.
