Elizabeth Noble has done it again with another great novel! I found it a bit long but still a very heartfelt and emotional journey through a family’s life.
The story is about Barbara, who is ill and is dying. She wants to leave her daughters something because she is leaving them so soon. She leaves letters to them all and a diary of things she wants them to know.
There are four girls: Lisa, Jennifer, Amanda and Hannah. They are each very different girls and throughout the story we get glimpses into their lives both past and present. Lisa can’t make a commitment, Jennifer is in an unhappy marriage, Amanda I think is a bit of a lost soul and keeps her distance from her family and Hannah, the youngest, comes from a union of the girls’ mother and their step-father Mark. She’s only 15 when her mother passes and still really only finding her way.
This is a novel of family, friends, heartbreak and joy. I found myself laughing and crying. I loved the characters, all of them. Elizabeth Noble has a way of writing about her characters that has you loving them and being happy and sad for them. While the premise of the story is kind of sad-Barbara passing; the way that Noble portrays it makes it a sign of life and hope.
I really enjoyed this novel, getting to know the characters, and am sad to see it over although it ended at a good and solid place. I would definitely recommend this novel to friends and family alike.
