Three very different women meet at a grief support group, but each of them decides that they feel out of place, that they don't belong there. Grace is not a widow. Her beloved husband, Jamie, has been in a coma since suffering a head injury on a hike celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary. Monica has been bitter since her husband was killed in a boating accident with his current mistress, leaving Monica to raise her two recalcitrant step-children and run their restaurant on her own. For Nan, the past 20 years, since her husband died in a plane crash, have been difficult yet rewarding. When Nan invites the other two women to join her in their own support group, they form a strong and supportive friendship.
After finishing Lisa Genova's "Every Note Played" I approached this novel with a bit of trepidation. Sadness and grief are worthy themes in fiction, but sometimes you feel like you need a break. Knowing Bostwick, though, I was pretty sure that the mood would improve, and it did.
I've read a few books lately where the characters were not particularly likable, which to me means that it is difficult to invest yourself in caring about where it all ends. Bostwick's characters, however, are like real friends. You want to know them better; you grieve when they grieve; you rejoice at their happiness, when things start to go right. Is the progression from nearly unmanageable grief and anger necessarily a linear and predictable event? Of course not, but novels are novels. there needs to be a beginning, a middle, and an end, and happy endings are sometimes a welcome alternative to the struggles of everyday life. If you want to experience a sense of inspiration and positivity and feel the strength of friendship, pick up almost any book by Marie Bostwick. You won't regret it!
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