January

In Five Years by Rebecca Serle, 2020

After the delightful One Italian Summer, I was intriuged by interviews with author Rebecca Serle about her fascination with time and whether we would do the same thing if we knew what was to happen. 

I don't necessarily believe in one set fate but do believe that the choices we make impact our lives and there are many choices (some bigger than others) that are made that lead us to a different path.

In Five Years follows the story of Dannie Kohan, a 25-year-old attorney shooting for partner. She lives with her boyfriend David, who is in Finance. Dannie is the stereotypical Type A personality who has a plan as to when she will get engaged, married and made partner.

On the night of her engagement, she wakes up and sees herself five years into the future. She is in an apartment that she has never seen before. She is with another man Aaron. She sees the news broadcast and realizes it is five years into the future.

Dannie wakes up again and she is back in present day, well aware of where her life will be in five years. She meets Aaron, who ends up dating and becoming the boyfriend of her best friend and free spirit Bella. She sees the apartment that she woke up in when she was in the future.

Dannie does everything she can to change the outcome, but the future is the future. Her fate is fixed. The beginning scene replays in 'real time' - a clever way to tie the novel together. A light comedy, there is gravity in the storyline of Bella's battle with cancer. 

With notes and ideas in my head about decisions and alternate lives, I was keen to read In Five Years. I would not necessarily recommend it but it was a nice quick read.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, 2017

Monique Grant is given an opportunity of a lifetime. Evelyn Hugo, the iconic movie star, has requested her for an interview. A rookie reporter for Vivant magazine, Grant has been requested specifically by Hugo.

When Grant and Hugo meet, Hugo offers to tell her life story. A colorful life full of grit and determination, Hugo talks of her ruthless, shrewd and calculated acts to flee an abusive father and further her career to the pinnacle in Hollywood. 

The story reflects the glamor of the 1950s where she uses her body to gain roles and star power to decades later when she needs to shock to remain popular to turning her back on Hollywood in the 1980s. 

Hugo's life story unfolds through the telling of her seven husbands mixed in with gossip column updates:

1. Poor Ernie Diaz - the man Evelyn seduces once she discovers he is planning to move across the country to work in lighting in Hollywood
2. Goddam Don Adler - Hollywood royalty, a movie star whose parents are movie stars; he hides a dark secret and fragile ego though
3. Gullible Mick Riva - A quick Las Vegas marriage that is annulled shortly after, serving both party's purposes 
4. Clever Rex North - Another marriage of convenience, a true Hollywood marriage
5. Brilliant, Kindhearted, Tortured Harry Cameron - Hugo's first friend in Hollywood turned Producer whose star rises along with Hugo's
6. Disappointing Max Girad - French film director obsessed with Evelyn Hugo (unfortunately, not Evelyn)
7. Agreeable Robert Jamison - brother to Celia St. James, fellow actress who has a tumultuous relationship with Hugo

Filled with twists and deliciously ambitious scheming, The Seven Husband of Evelyn Hugo is a well crafted story.

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides, 2019

Perennially in circulation at the high school library, I decided to read this to relate to the kids. Although I had been obsessed with Agatha Christie when I was a child, I tend not to read mystery or thrillers.

The Silient Patient did not dissapoint. Meticulously plotted, the story centers around artist Alicia Berenson and her brutal murder (shot in the face) of her husband. 

Berenson is locked up in a mental ward while psychotherapist Theo Faber becomes obsessed with her and her case.

After the murder, Bereson refuses to speak. Before she is jailed, she paints a picture of Alcestis, a mythological woman who volunteers to die in her husband's place. When she returns to the mortal world, she refuses to speak, remaining mute.

Faber is assigned to Berenson and begins treating her to determine the mysterious circumstances around her murderous act and why she refuses to speak.

Being an avid reader and consumer of television, I tend to spot twists but I did not see this twist at all. I recommended this book to my husband, a fellow Cambridge grad like the author, and he too was spellbound by the book.

One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle, 2022

I had seen and read recommendations for this book, but had not been ready to read it since it revolves around the death of the protagonist's mother. Otherwise, a tale taking place in another country is my jam.

While in New York City for the holidays, I saw this at Rizzoli's bookstore and decided that I was ready to read it (and support such an beautiful bookstore).

Katy's mother has passed away and she is no longer sure of anything, including her husband Eric. Katy and her mother Carol were best friends.

Before Carol's passing, she and Katy had planned a trip together to Positano, Italy, where Carol had spent formative time in her thirties. Katy decides to continue with the trip anyway, and goes alone.

At the Hotel Poseidon in Positano, Katy is able to breathe and consider her life and how she met Eric in college and then ended up marrying him. She wonders if she has really lived.

While in Positano, Katy befriends Nika and Marco, owners of the hotel, and fellow guest Adam, a businessman who returns to Positano often. On this particular trip, Adam is looking to acquire Hotel Poseidon, which is struggling financially.

While in Positano, Katy also meets her mother, aged 30... Befriending Carol, Katy learns of her mom's past and realizes that her mom had a life before becoming a mother. That she was complicated and not always the organized taskmaster for the family.

A sweet story with details about the delights of Postitano, the ocean the city overlooks onto and the delicous food, One Italian Summer is a fun read and makes one consider the lives parents led versus how they are known to their children.

Another fun detail is that Hotel Poseidon is an actual hotel that the author stayed at, inspiring the novel.