Leanne and Richard are making big changes in their lives. It has always been Leanne’s dream to live by the sea and they have found a perfect house for their forever home. Perfect in terms of location, but absolutely dilapidated inside. However, this is their forever home and they’re both committed to doing the house up together, so they put in an offer and sell their London flat. Tragically, Richard dies only weeks later in an accident on the underground and Leanne is devastated. When she lifts her head out of the fog of grief it is too late to stop the sale of the flat and Leanne makes a big choice to leave her family and job behind and follow her lifelong dream of living on the coast.
Her first experiences are not promising, The work on the house, which seemed manageable with two of them, now seems overwhelming, especially when the rotting door frame means she can’t even lock the back door. Added to this she meets a terribly grumpy man at the hardware store who isn’t helpful. She feels so alone. However, she’s about to find out that this town is very special. This is where I had to suspend my cynicism and just go with it. This is almost a magical town. However, when you do go with it, the book is rewarding and puts a big smile on your face.
I felt for Leanne. I’ve been a young widow and it’s not just missing the person, it’s the loss of all you had planned together. There were parts of Leanne’s journey that rang very true to me. The difficult in sharing grief with others, the fog she finds herself in at times and particularly the guilt of moving on. I loved the relationship with her in-laws- she struggles to spend time with them initially and seems to really fear their disapproval of how she’s coping. I love how warm and generous they are where she least expects it. Despite having friends and a good relationship with Richard, Leanne is genuinely blown away by people being kind to her. I love the idea behind the changes Leanne makes to herself and to her home. Even though she finishes the cottage it isn’t perfect - it’s done with hard work and still has the unfashionable coloured bathroom suites for now. The renovation of the cottage is a metaphor for Leanne’s emotional recovery - her love for Richard and sadness at his loss will always remain - but other parts of her evolve and change. There is room for her to grow and find new wonderful experiences. To carry on living.
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