Synopsis: Twenty years ago, Anna Hott thought she could control everything — her crumbling marriage, her demanding children, her hectic life — by quitting her high-placed job in New York City and moving her family to tranquil Sanibel Island, Florida. But she brought her untamed emotions, her rage toward her cheating husband, and her yearning to write a novel with her. When her husband and children left the house for a week, Anna thought at last she would get her household, her novel, and her mind in order. Instead, her elderly neighbor Fedelina Aurelio knocked on her door bearing flowers and homespun wisdom, and when Fedelina's recently divorced son arrived, Anna had a test of passions and a test of truth.
Now, at 56 with an empty nest, Anna Holt pulls out the incomplete manuscript she started that memorable week and — to find closure for her life and a conclusion for her novel — travels to Indiana to visit Fedelina who lives in a nursing home.
Type: Fiction
Quick Take: This books starts with Anna feeling sorry for herself. Her husband travels for week every week, she has three young children to care for and no time for herself. She uses her husband as her 'punching bag'... they are headed down a dark road.
In attempt to give Anna a break her husband sends the kids off for a week. With one week to herself she plans to write but each day leads her on a new journey. The story is told as flashbacks - and older/wiser Anna visits her neighbor (now in a nursing home) to read her almost finished novel in hopes of finding peace and closure.
I really enjoyed moments in this book but wasn't interested at all in other parts. Anna's emotions felt real and I did chuckle when she threw everything out of her house, for a yard sale. I also like that she was still searching for peace years later.
Rating: 3/5 stars
Source: Review Copy