Fiction / Literary
320 pages
4 Stars
DISCLAIMER: I received a free electronic ARC of this novel
from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The author is a Scot, and some of the words are spelled a
wee bit differently than what we Americans are used to, and some of them are
totally different, but they are fun, and easily understandable.
This is what I would call a 'gentle' book—no blood, no gore,
no adrenaline. Gilbert Johnson, a dealer in antiquarian books lives in
Edinburgh, has recently buried his mother, and undergone cancer treatment. He's
travelled the world through his books, and thinks it's now time to do so for
real. En route to British Columbia, to research an ancestor of his to write a
book, he meets Veronika, who lives in Vancouver, BC, and they discover they are
'cancer twins.'
Gil takes a bus to the village where his ancestor lived, and
sends Veronika a short, cryptic note on a post card. She drives to him,
concerned about his health and safety, and they spend a week or so together
while Veronika drives him around to meet and greet and conduct his research.
This is a story of two damaged people learning trust again, learning to laugh
again, learning to love again.
There is a lot of humor in this book, especially when people
in the village decide Veronika is really Sigourney Weaver and Gil is her script
writer, and the villagers convince themselves a movie will be made there soon
and they will all get rich.
The book is in five parts, no chapters. I had no problem
with that, but for people who are used to fast paced books and short chapters,
it might be a tad disconcerting. My biggest complaint was near the 25% read
area, when we were given a lot of the actual history of the people and area
involved. While it was interesting, it really bogged down the story, and didn't
help propel it along. It kind of reminded me of the Begats in the Bible. Hence,
4 stars instead of 5.
Highly recommend this book.
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