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IF WE EVER GET THERE
Laura Barrow
Lake Union Publishing
June 18, 2024
329 pages
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Genres: Women, Family Life, Marriage & Divorce
The concept of this story is unique. Effie, our main character, is coming out of surgery, she has a vision of Patsy Cline giving her life advice. “Time to set things right.” She has no idea what to make of it but makes it her goal to figure it out. This leads to interesting situations.
In the background throughout this book is Effie’s grandmother. As a young woman, she was obsessed with Patsy Cline and addressed all of her diary entries to her. The chapters alternate between Effie’s story and the grandmother’s diary entries to Patsy Cline. Each one of Effie’s is titled by one of Cline’s songs. Indirectly, the grandmother and Patsy Cline give Effie strength throughout the book.
The story is multi-layered, marriage break up, infidelity, managing life and bizarre outside influences. I had to suspend my beliefs a little but there were some humerous situations! In the end, this is a story of acceptance and self-realization. It’s a little fluffy on the surface but has lots of substance underneath the fluff.
I found the second half of the book to be more interesting than the first half. The story seemed to flow better and it was easier to immerse myself in it. Perhaps as Effie came into herself, so did the story.
I’m rating this 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.
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