It is going to take a lot to knock this book out of my #1 book of 2016 spot. I have been in a reading slump for a while and I haven't found a book that really grabbed me. This book was what I was waiting to find.This is our final book club selection for the spring and I hadn't heard of it before it was chosen as our final book. The title made me curious (see what I did there???) so I immediately bought it to read on my iPad.
One of my favourite books of recent years was The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and I found this to be equally charming.
Arthur Pepper has been a widower for one year. His life has been sad and lonely over the past year and he has relied on his routines at home to keep life "normal". A year after his beloved Miriam's death he decides to clean out her closets. While doing this he comes across a charm bracelet he has never seen before. He doesn't remember ever seeing her wear it. But as he tries to discover where the bracelet came from he learns a lot more about Miriam than he was prepared for.
He begins a journey that takes him far out of his comfort zone, travelling to London and Paris, getting attacked by a tiger, and discovering things about his wife, kids and himself along the way.
It is a beautiful look at how the choices we make each day make up our lives and about how we don't know what kind of impact we are having on the people we cross paths with in our lives.
It is an absolutely delightful book. One of the women in my book club even shared that this book inspired her to reconnect with her dad! Amazing. It will make you think about your life and about the choices you make. It also made me increasingly grateful for the people in my life. I am challenged after reading it to enjoy the moment more, instead of waiting for better times to come. I hope you love it as much as I did.
