The Optimist's Guide to Letting Go
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4.3 • 15 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Three generations. Seven days. One big secret. The author of The Coincidence of Coconut Cake unfolds a mother-daughter story told by three women whose time to reckon with a life-altering secret is running out.
Gina Zoberski wants to make it through one day without her fastidious mother, Lorraine, cataloguing all her faults, and her sullen teenage daughter, May, snubbing her. Too bad there’s no chance of that. Her relentlessly sunny disposition annoys them both, no matter how hard she tries. Instead, Gina finds order and comfort in obsessive list-making and her work at Grilled G’s, the gourmet grilled cheese food truck built by her late husband.
But when Lorraine suffers a sudden stroke, Gina stumbles upon a family secret Lorraine's kept hidden for forty years. In the face of her mother’s failing health and her daughter’s rebellion, this optimist might find that piecing together the truth is the push she needs to let go...
Customer Reviews
Captivating
The Optimist’s Guide to Letting Go is a captivating, heart-wrenching and touching story.
Lorraine realized that the easiest way to do something was not necessarily the best way. When the love of her life, Joe, died, instead of bringing up her two children alone, Lorraine sought the help of her estranged parents. Her father insisted that she marry well. Within weeks she was married to a man who would provide for her, and her children, financially. This would not be a marriage based on love though. Floyd needed a ready-made family and Lorraine, needed financial security. The catch was, unfortunately, that her children were never to know that Joe, was their real father. It would be as if he never existed. This secret would cost Lorraine, dearly.
Gina always tried to look on the bright side of life. Some days; however, it seemed to be too much of a task. Gina, loved her mother, Lorraine, she just didn’t like her, sometimes. Lorraine was always finding fault with Gina, and the way she raised, May, her daughter. Gina lost her husband two years ago and although she knew May’s coldness towards her, was just grief over losing her father; it still stung.
When Lorraine’s health failed her, Gina discovered the secret; Lorraine had buried for forty years. Although this truth was shocking, it was the catalyst for Gina’s healing. Gina, like her mother, had married a man she loved but lost him. Vicky, Gina’s sister, had married for convenience only, so it was no surprise when she found herself, caught in a loveless marriage. Neither Gina nor Vicky could move on with their lives until they learned to truly let go; Gina, the man she lost, and Vicky, the marriage that brought her pain.
This book is about grief, letting go, and learning to live again. The Optimist’s Guide To Letting Go is a captivating story that touches the heart.
Thank you, Galley Books and NetGalley, for my advanced review copy.