The Summary:
When Katy’s mother dies, she is left reeling. Carol wasn’t just Katy’s mom, but her best friend and first phone call. She had all the answers and now, when Katy needs her the most, she is gone. To make matters worse, their planned mother-daughter trip of a lifetime looms: two weeks in Positano, the magical town Carol spent the summer right before she met Katy’s father. Katy has been waiting years for Carol to take her, and now she is faced with embarking on the adventure alone.
But as soon as she steps foot on the Amalfi Coast, Katy begins to feel her mother’s spirit. Buoyed by the stunning waters, beautiful cliffsides, delightful residents, and, of course, delectable food, Katy feels herself coming back to life.
And then Carol appears—in the flesh, healthy, sun-tanned, and thirty years old. Katy doesn’t understand what is happening, or how—all she can focus on is that she has somehow, impossibly, gotten her mother back. Over the course of one Italian summer, Katy gets to know Carol, not as her mother, but as the young woman before her. She is not exactly who Katy imagined she might be, however, and soon Katy must reconcile the mother who knew everything with the young woman who does not yet have a clue.
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This was an emotional journey for me personally as the fifth anniversary of the death of grandmother is mere weeks away. Just like Katy, I lost my person, and I could identify with her difficulty to grapple with her feelings of grief and discovering how she should best express them. Grief is an emotion, mourning is the expression of the emotion and the only way to reach a place of healing. This was a story of self discovery and acknowledging your own resilience in the midst of absolute brokenness and I believe that the author communicated that very well. Additionally, any time there's an element of time bending magic weaved into a book, I AM HERE FOR IT!
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The reason I am landing on a four star review instead of five - because I highly recommend this book! - has to do with the slow burn of a couple of elements that I struggled to reconcile as I was reading. First of all, there was Katy's perception of her relationship with her mother. For me, it was just improbable. She often referred to her mother as her best friend, soul mate, and the center of her world - and the feeling was mutual. Now, this is coming form someone who absolutely can say that I had a soul mate in my grandmother. She was my person, my biggest fan, my person, but I could make decisions and choices without her. Katy's utter dependence on her mother seemed unhealthy at times and as a mental healthcare professional, I really struggled to feel okay about that as I got deeper into the story. I also reached a point of feeling like Katy herself was becoming less and less relatable with the life altering choices she was making in direct response to her grief.
Another personal issue I had with this story was how long it takes for the author to reveal how and why Katy is interacting with the 30 year old version of her mother. I found myself thinking "Wouldn't this seem weird to Carol?" or "Doesn't this particular detail seem off to one or both of them?" more than once. Once all of the details begin to unravel, all of my questions were sufficiently answered, but geez that happened very late in the story.
Fortunately, the concerns I was having with this story fell away when Rebecca Serle turned everything we thought we knew up until a point completely on its head! My reservations were addressed in an unexpected and beautiful way that left me in tears, reading the last page of this book. I only worry that some readers will give up long before reaching the pay off in the end. So, that's why I was to take this opportunity to say to anyone who may soon read or is currently reading this book with the same roller coaster of emotions that I was experiencing: KEEP READING! It will all make sense. It will all be dealt with. IT WILL BE WORTH IT!
A huge thank you 🙏🏻 to the author along with Atria Books and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. I predict this will be one of my favorite books of this year 💜
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