Hennepin County Library, paperback 150 pages
genre: relationships
I don't remember where I read the review of this book, but it intrigued me. I waited from July to December to get a copy from the library and then was too insanely busy to read it! I finished it yesterday on vacation (and now owe money for the three days it's overdue). Beautiful, haunting, touching.
Astrid is old and lonely. Veronika moves in next door to write and work through her grief. The two women are unlikely friends, but become confidantes of their deepest secrets. From New Zealand to Sweden and through the course of a year, we get to know these women and their lives' stories.
Now I need to find and listen to Brahms' sonata for violin and piano, no. 3 in D minor, especially the second movement. Oh, and eat some wild strawberries. This would be a great discussion book. I'm sad for Johan, wonder about the dynamic between Astrid and her daughter, and would love to hear other women's opinions.
*** The above was written 12/29/2010. I added the below on 11/4/2019.***
I wish I had re-read this in time for the Jordan Library book club in September, but I have finally finished my re-read now. I marked some passages.
Page 138 - "January was hot and sunny and we spent most weekends on the beach. But it never got any easier. The sea became my enemy. We were fighting over the same man." Veronika, talking about her time with James. The author has such a way of expressing things and creating word pictures!
Page 153 - When Astrid shares what happened to her daughter, she says, "Perhaps it wasn't that my love wasn't strong enough. Perhaps it was that my hatred was too strong." Her love for her daughter and her hatred of her husband (and her dad) . . . what tragic sadness! Later, she says, "I think that if we can find the words, and if we can find someone to tell them to, then perhaps we can see things differently. But I had no words, and I had nobody."
Page 156 - "Here, it was as if summer and winter were intertwined: there was summer in the midst of winter, winter in the midst of summer. And there was no autumn, no spring, no time for anticipation, no time for remembrance. Only the present." Not sure why I marked this . . . Veronika is talking about her time in New Zealand. I think it made me think of how much I love living in Minnesota and having four distinct seasons. Each one has its own character and charm.
Sensory! taste, sounds, smell, sight - so evocative!
*** Spoilers below***
Page 170 - "When I think about it now, I wish there had been more time. I feel that grief has its own organic processing time, which cannot be compressed without consequences. Given time to take its course, perhaps the healing is more complete." Did anyone even know she was pregnant with James' child? How awful to deal with the double grief of losing him and then miscarrying the baby!
Page 189 - "Parents have such formidable power. They can protect you from all the pain in the world. Or inflict the hardest pain of all. And as children we accept what we get. Perhaps we believe that anything is better than that which we all fear the most." Astrid, talking about her father. Such intense conversations these two women have!
Page 218 - "And it is my favourite season, autumn. Some see it as the end of the year. Death. But to me, it has always felt like the beginning. Pure and clean, with a lack of distractions. Time to set your house in order and prepare for winter." Astrid, philosophizing to Veronika. It's a conversation of catharsis.
Page 229 - Their goodbye is sad and beautiful and fits them well.
Page 240 - Astrid's letter to Veronika at the end is lovely. "You have known me as no other person has. And I like to think that I have known you a little. . . . To some, my life may seem tragic. Wasted. That is not how it appears to me. You have given me a new perspective. You pulled me out into the bright life again, opened my eyes. Made the ice thaw. And I am so very grateful."
There's a paragraph about love on page 241 that I was going to scan and include, but I'm almost falling asleep so I'll head to bed now and perhaps re-read the book again in nine years!
Here's the list of study guide questions:
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