Love Anthony
Publication Date: September 25,2012
Page: 309
Nantucket in the off season is a whole different world than Nantucket in the height of the season. Beth Ellis came for the season over fifteen years ago and never left. Instead she fell in love with a local boy, Jimmy. They married and had three beautiful daughters. But now, after fourteen years of marriage Beth discovers that Jimmy has been having an affair with a coworker. Beth uses her heartache to finally rediscover the woman she used to be before marriage and kids. She starts to write a story about a young man with Autism.
Olivia Donatelli has been a seasonal resident of Nantucket for years. But now she has come to Nantucket to heal after the loss of her son and her marriage. She is also trying to rediscover the woman that she was before having a son with Autism changed everything in her world. She has decided to turn to the photography that she loves and has been helping families document their time and memories of their Summer at Nantucket. It is through the photography that Olivia and Beth meet . Their paths cross several times again over the course of the book, until one day Olivia offers to help Beth with her book. And she realizes that the story that Beth has been writing is one that is very, very familiar to her.
Beth and Olivia are both women at a crossroads in their lives. There are two ways that they can go at this crossroads. Either down the path towards healing and becoming whole again. Or down the path of destruction where they let their circumstances serve as an excuse to stop living. Which way will they go?
You may remember Lisa Genova from her blockbuster debut novel,
Still Alice. Still one of my favorite books to this day. Her new book,
Love Anthony, has almost a mystical feel to it. In that way that gives you goosebumps as you are reading. I enjoyed both Beth and Olivia, and their stories. There were things that I found myself relating to with both women and that is something I always enjoy.
Bottom line,
Love Anthony is a wonderfully heartwarming novel about two women with different stories, but at the same place in their lives. Watching their stories start to overlap and watching them come to terms with their situations was almost empowering. Looking for a good book, don't let this one pass you by.
Post a Comment