Anna is a planner. So when she discovers sheβs pregnant, she prepares for a perfect new life in ProvenΓ§e, France, with her perfect new baby-to-be. Annaβs partner, the easy-going Tobias, shouldnβt have too much difficulty tagging alongβafter all, heβs a musician who rarely starts his day before noon. But all that changes when their baby is born severely disabled.
Anna, Tobias, and their daughter, Freya, end up in a rickety, rodent-infested farmhouse in a remote town in Franceβfar from the mansion in ProvenΓ§e they had imagined. Little do they know that this is the beginning of what will become an incredible journey of the heartβone during which they learn there really is no such thing as a mouse-proof kitchen. Life is messy, and itβs the messy bits that make it count.
If youβre a gardener, a cook or simply a mother, this book will resonate with you in numerous ways. I adored this book mostly because of the blunt and caustic honesty that made me flinch when I read certain passages; but at the same time I understood and identified with the emotions and feelings behind those words. Β This author is a documentary filmmaker and first time novelist, yet the general topic of the book is loosely based on her own life as a mother to a severely disabled child. I believe that because the author truly lives through the trials (and triumphs) of having a mentally disabled child, she can use her dark humor in a way that otherwise wouldβve been misunderstood by the reader. I loved these characters and and how nature played such a huge role in their individual lives as well as those around them. There are metaphors at play throughout the book and descriptions that had me touching wisteria and smelling all the ingredients for a good compost. Excellent writing and very real story. Well done.
Quotes I liked:
Itβs a perfect moment. One of those rare times when you wouldnβt prefer to be anywhere else, doing anything else. Where past and future melt away and thereβs only now.β
– βWe were running away, I think–but when you run away, of course, you arrive somewhere, and then you have to deal with that.β
– βAnna, the only thing we truly possess is time. We just have to learn what to do with it.β
– βYou need to keep a step ahead of nature and you never can, not completely. You need nature and you fear it, you work with it and around it. Above all, you respect it. You pay attention. Making things grow requires structure and discipline.β
-βBut of course you must nag Tobias,β she says. βHow else is he supposed to know that you love him.β
– βLove is the earth that holds our roots in place. Without it, thereβs nothing to keep us from falling over.β
,Heartbreaking story!! I couldn’t wrap my head around how Anna spoke or thought Freya sometimes. It was like she forgot that Freya was her child,let alone a human being!!
Arlyn, I agree. That’s probably what I liked so much. It was the raw honesty that you don’t often hear from mother and child. Glad you enjoyed even though at times, it was heartbreaking. best, L
Can’t wait to read it !
,Heartbreaking story!! I couldn’t wrap my head around how Anna spoke or thought Freya sometimes. It was like she forgot that Freya was her child,let alone a human being!!
Arlyn, I agree. That’s probably what I liked so much. It was the raw honesty that you don’t often hear from mother and child. Glad you enjoyed even though at times, it was heartbreaking.
best,
L