An audio book.
Dublin. Rachel's in her 40s.
- Job - She now works as a Head Therapist at an addiction clinic where people stay for 6 weeks. Her job begins by breaking down their strategies of denial - she invites friends/family to a group session to help. We learn about relapses. The pool of patients offers opportunities to introduce sub-plots - rich kids who got into drugs; gambling grannies getting in trouble with loan-sharks, etc.
- Lifestyle - She has a dog - "once you've a dog you can go anywhere." She also uses gardening as therapy. She buys things online - keeping it under control. Nola, her sponsor, took her on on the proviso that she sought "a higher power". She's become more trusting of "an inner voice" which seems to have a mind of its own.
- Family - Her sisters like discussing sexual details. Clare wants to be a swinger but her husband Adam doesn't. Her niece Kate lives with Rachel. She does surveillance work for Rachel's sister, who's a private detective. Kate starting bring Luke's nephew Devon home some nights.
- Luke - She was married to Luke. She was an addict. She broke up with Luke 6 years before, in New York, unpleasantly. They'd been waiting until they'd paid off their student loans before trying for children. Now Luke (still living in the States) indirectly asks her to his father's funeral (Luke's coming over). She consults parents and sisters to decide whether she should go. We're told about her relationship with Luke. At the funeral she realises she's still been hoping he might return to her. Luke has flown over with Carrie, a singer-songwriter. Carrie contacts Rachel asking where she can get a morning-after pill - a condom tore. Rachel helps and in return is invited on a double date.
- Quinn - Rachel's been going out for 2 years with Quinn, a father of 2 divorced for 5 years. They still live apart. He's about her age. They're honest with each other. His marriage failed because he was unfaithful. She watches how Quinn deals with his ex-partner. Episodically we're told the story of their relationship. She's been cautious. We learn that "Addicts fear intimacy because they don't feel good enough." We're told about the first time Rachel and Quinn had emotional sex, how Quinn had to coach her to focus on him rather than just "have sex".
About halfway through the book, Rachel visit's the family house of Luke and sees a photo of Yara, which triggers a long flashback. In NY Rachel had been so close to due-date when her baby Yara died that she had to be induced. She was already a recovered addict by then and thought she could cope with sleeping pills. Rachel and Luke meet to discuss Yara. Rachel claims that she wasn't addicted to the pills, and that Luke left her after sleeping with a friend. Luke claims that really she left her - he spent 6 months trying to help her but she didn't care.
When Quinn realises she doesn't want to marry him, he's hurt. She asks if she can sleep with Luke. She does. Closure - of grief? Of their relationship? After, they go to her garden where she buried Yara's ashes under a cherry tree. After that she rushes to Quinn and realises that she and Quinn won't last - he's just slept with someone too. Luke returns to the States. She realises that everyone except her knew she's relapsed back then.
In the next 4 months she and Luke sometimes video-call, using Yara as an excuse. She follows Facebook trying to assess the Luke-Carrie relationship. Her sister becomes pregnant - she stresses about it. Luke tells her that she and Carrie had split months before, before their night together really. She meets Quinn who seems interested in starting again. She's glad he's not too sad, but that's all.
At the end Luke and Rachel get together again - each-other's true love.
General
Perky dialogue. I can see how readers might want Rachel to be happy. The internal monologue sometimes surprises, using words like "ensconced". I think there were some red herrings -
- Near the start I'd expected Rachel to somehow get Kate to check up on men
- After the funeral but before Luke flies back, Carrie and Quinn fly to the States at roughly the same time. I thought they'd somehow meet.
- She had long ago booked a Transylvania holiday with Quinn and another couple. When Quinn drops out, I wondered if it would be a threesome (echoing Clare's experience) or if she'd invite Luke. She goes with the couple, but the holiday passes in a sentence or two (when Adam and Clare met another couple, both the couple were interested in Adam, neither in Clare, who went home early).
In the acknowledgements the author says she's a recovering alcoholic.
No comments:
Post a Comment