Grace and Henry’s happily ever after comes to an abrupt end when he is gruesomely killed in a biking accident on his way to an open house. In the weeks following his death, Grace keeps thinking she sees Henry around Dublin until the day a plumber comes to her door who is his spitting image. Andy has come in search of his birth mother only to find that both she and the identical twin he knew nothing about have died. An unorthodox relationship builds between the two as Grace’s grief process is stalled by this Henry substitute and Andy’s search for his past morphs into a chance to create an “alternate life” from the ashes of his brother’s. As Grace says, Andy “was a bridge between the life I had chosen and the one fate had given me.”
In a less talented author, this book could have been very maudlin and tragic. Instead, Shortall has gifted us with a heartwarming and captivating story which balances heart-breaking grief with a big dose of the humor the Irish are famous for. As Grace struggles to keep her grief from consuming her, she has the support of a stellar group of secondary characters who provide ample comic relief. There are the Three Wise Men at the cemetery who share her experience of having lost their partners and create a safe haven with their sage advice and tired jokes; irascible next-door neighbor Betty who has a deeply-camouflaged warm heart but provides a welcome distraction from lonely nights; best friend Aoife who drags her back into the land of the living; boss Dermot who hates his restaurant customers and refuses to give up his dream of acting; and her sweet and loving parents with their fancy date night at Nando’s and moth extermination attempts. There are also several memories of conversations Grace had with Henry full of bickering, teasing, joking and love that are a bittersweet reminder of all she has lost.
Despite the humor, Shortall doesn’t shy away from exposing Ireland’s tragic history of forced adoptions. As Andy uncovers details of his past, we see the devastation this practice wrought on generations of young Catholic women and the children taken from them. Grief comes in many forms, and late in the book Grace realizes that hers might not have been as great as Henry’s parents and that Andy has also suffered a huge loss by being separated from his twin and denied the opportunity to be raised as part of a loving family because he was considered “unexpected, surplus”.
It’s a tribute to an author when the reader wants to be a part of the characters’ lives. Laughing along with Grace’s parents and spending time with her friends makes me want to move to Dublin yesterday. This beautiful book would appeal to fans of Maeve Binchy and Cecelia Ahern. The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars is because I wasn’t happy with the ending and would love a sequel. Sadly, I’m not holding my breath.
I received a complimentary ARC of this book from G.P Putnam’s Sons through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.
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