Reading in bed
Ratings1
Average rating4
15
Ratings1
Average rating4
Friends since university, with busy working lives now behind them, Dido and Georgia have long been looking forward to books and outings, conversation and carefree days. Alas: life is rarely as one wishes it to be, and both find themselves caught up in wholly unexpected domestic drama. Dido, for the first time, has cause to question her marriage; widowed Georgia is certain her husband will return to her. Meanwhile, an eccentric country cousin goes wildly off the rails, children are unhappy in love, and perfect health is all at once in question. Turning to one another should be as natural as breathing, but with so much at stake even this old friendship comes under strain. As hatches are battened down, and silence falls, it takes all their loyalty and humour to recover the easy confiding intimacy of the past.
Reviews with the most likes.
Maybe it's because I've been disappointed with popular fiction lately, but I really wasn't expecting much from this book. (Honestly, I think I put it on my wishlist because of its title.)
It's much better than I expected.
The characters are a mix of sixty-somethings and thirty-somethings. The older group has all been friends since college and the younger group are their children and their significant others.
These are real people, all offering serious assets to the world and all with deep flaws. One of the older women has lost her husband and she is grieving. Her daughter can't seem to connect with her mom and she really wants to find a spouse. The other older woman is struggling with questions about her husband, she worries about her kids, and she will always grieve the loss of her baby girl.
It's pretty close to a 4.5. Very touching.
A couple of quotes...
“Georgia's eyes fill with tears. —What a good friend you've been to me.
—We all are. We all were. Oh dear. How sad life is.”
“Dido thinks back to the carefree retirement life she was having such a short time ago...Ha. Had she cherished that time as she should? Dido thinks we should all mark and cherish every single moment of our time on earth when it is running smoothly, is ordinary, interesting. Happy, even. It's nice to think that such a store will set you up, give you the strength to endure whatever life is quietly getting ready to sock you over the head with, to rock your boat for ever.”
