Set against the natural beauty of the San Juan Islands in the Pacific Northwest, acclaimed author Cathy Lamb’s latest novel tells the emotionally compelling story of one woman’s life-changing discovery about her past . . .
As a child, Evie Lindsay was unnerved by her premonitions. As an adult, they have become a simple fact of life—sometimes disruptive but also inescapable, much like her quirky, loveable family. Evie’s mother, Poppy, and her aunts, Camellia and Iris, are well known on San Orcanita island for their free-spirited ways and elaborately decorated hats. Their floral shop and Evie’s bookstore draw streams of visitors all summer long. This season promises to be extra busy: Evie’s sister, Jules, is getting married on the island.
As Jules plans her unconventional wedding, she arranges to do a DNA test with her mother, sister, and aunts, to see how much accepted lore about their heritage holds true. The results blow apart everything Evie has grown up believing about herself and her family. Spurred on by the revelations, Evie uncovers the real story of her past. But beyond her feelings of shock and betrayal, there are unexpected opportunities—to come to terms with a gift that has sometimes felt like a curse, to understand the secrets that surrounded her childhood, and to embrace the surprising new life that is waiting for her . . .
WTF In All The Best Ways. The marketing for this book is all "premonitions and DNA tests", and honestly, while that certainly applies to the tale - premonitions play a central role in the two primary lives involved and there is indeed a DNA test that allows them to find each other - that aspect to the book is not so major as to warrant being the primary marketing focus, to my mind. Instead, this is a funny in an off beat kind of way (think: escaping goats and aunts who start a pot business to fund an Antarctic expedition) tale of a woman who has a full life yet is searching to find that one missing piece. The Beauty and the Beast allusions of the cover illustration are spot on, but again, a minor if recurring point. Overall a very strong book, but one that is quite a bit more humorous than the marketing and even cover may imply. Very much recommended.
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20 October, 2019:
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