Fionnuala Kearney

This story is mainly about Beth, who separates from her husband after he has an affair, and deals with living alone and finding her own success, but also deals with her relationship with Adam and his illegitimate son from an earlier affair, Noah. Noah’s terminal illness is what propels this book forward, but it isn’t introduced until the second of three parts of this book. Because of this, the first part was boring as there was no real reason to keep reading it. Noah’s story was what brought this book depth.

Beth and Adam’s voices seem very similar and there’s nothing distinguishing between the two viewpoints. If I were to open the book to a random chapter, I wouldn’t be able to tell who was talking. Beth really grew as a character, and felt very real. At the beginning, she seemed kind of like a pushover and I was certain that she’d get back together with Adam. Through her interactions with her therapist and with Karen and Ben, as well as through her own success as a songwriter, it’s heartening to see how she grows stronger. The motif of Adam’s parents kept popping up, but when their story was finally revealed, it felt a little forced, and not really necessary to the plot.

This was a very solid book and an easy read, though nothing mind blowing. Overall, the story holds its own, but isn’t terribly enthralling.… (more)