August

A heartwarming story I didn’t want to end. In August 1984, Jenny and her second husband Jonas take a belated honeymoon on the Ligurian coast. They stay in the same hotel her late first husband Eric had frequented for business where she unexpectedly discovers clues to Eric's boyhood trauma during the war. This knowledge jolts her view of Eric, her view of herself, and her relationship with Jonas. August is a novel about the power of secrets to transform lives. Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.

The novel focuses on Jenny and her second husband Jonas, whom she had known growing up, and their belated honeymoon in 1984 on the Ligurian coast. Jenny’s late first husband, Eric, was somewhat older than she was and often travelled “for business,” both professional and personal business, leaving Jenny for months at a time. Interestingly, Jenny and Jonas stay in the same hotel where Eric often stayed when on his travels, and there Jenny comes to realize pieces of what proved traumatic for Eric as a boy during the war. Jenny’s realizations gives her new insight not only into Eric and her relationship with him, but also into her relationship with Jonas.

This was a very quick but engrossing read, one that gives the reader insight into Jenny’s inner working and feelings. Although it took me a bit of reading to get used to the cadence and rhythm of the author’s storytelling technique, I found the novel to set forth a touching and intriguing story, one that is told in almost lyrical prose.