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1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

"Lovers of Europa Editions' other titles My Brilliant Friend and Fresh Water for Flowers will fall hard for this beautiful, heartbreaking, and healing story. Grab a box of tissues!" — Electric Lit

Full of humor and compassion, this Indie Next Pick is a profound exploration of sisterhood, healing, and the ineffable beauty of life.

Sisters Emma and Agathe were thick as thieves when they were young but have always been as different as can be. Five years older, Emma was the defender, protector, and worrier for her fiery younger sister until tragedy marred their relationship.

For a long time, Emma has kept her distance from Agathe and her chaos. But when their adored grandmother dies, they must return together to Spain to empty out her house and, in the process, reconcile, remember, and pour out what is hidden inside their hearts.

Alternating between the sisters' childhood and the present day, Grimaldi's delicately wrought prose paints complex portraits of the two women, asking if the scars of the past can ever truly be healed, and what, in the end, is a good life.

Laughter, tears, and the transformative power of love — these are the ingredients that combine to make this uplifting, unputdownable literary novel the summer read of 2024.

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    • Booklist

      March 15, 2024
      After their grandmother's death, sisters Emma and Agathe return for one last visit to the house that provided a refuge during a turbulent and chaotic childhood. Raised by an emotionally and physically abusive mother, both women bear the psychological wounds of this tumultuous time, and while they were very close as girls, they have grown distant in adulthood. The week they are spending at their grandmother's seaside home is an opportunity to reconnect as well as say goodbye to the woman who provided stability in their lives. Diary entries shed light on the complicated dynamics at play in the sisters' relationship and the ways they supported and failed each other throughout the years. Grimaldi is a best-selling author in France, and her bittersweet English-language debut is sure to tug at the heartstrings of readers who appreciate moving novels which explore the complexities of sisterly love and mental illness, such as All My Puny Sorrows (2014), by Miriam Toews, or Everything Here is Beautiful (2018), by Mira T. Lee.

      COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • Kirkus

      April 1, 2024
      Two sisters. One week. A lifetime to understand. Popular French author Grimaldi's American debut charts the course of an emotional one-week reunion between two estranged sisters who retreat to their beloved grandmother's Basque home before it's sold to new owners. Older sister Emma (who sought out the meeting) and "little sister" Agathe--both now middle-aged--were close during a childhood marked by the death of their father and the increasing violence and drunkenness of their mother. The one constant source of security and affection during their formative years was their warm and caring paternal grandmother, Mima. After a five-year period of distance and alienation, the women fall back into old behaviors but relish the opportunity to be together, and in a place they both love. Telling the story through the women's alternating voices and spanning the decades of their lives, Grimaldi deftly illustrates the emotional damage visited on them by both their unstable upbringing and the fragile nature of their renewed relationship. Emma, who assumed a caretaking role toward Agathe in the face of their mother's abuse, has dealt with Agathe's fragile mental health throughout their lives (until the point where the relationship ruptured). Her motivation for repairing their fractured relationship is slowly and subtly revealed--and is responsible for a classic tear-jerker ending. Agathe's struggles with mental illness are sensitively handled, and Grimaldi respectfully reveals the stress this placed on Emma as well. The idyllic Basque setting sits in contrast to the sisters' recalled heartaches but serves as a balm to their sentimental souls as they recall the nurturing affection Mima provided. Translated from French by Serle, Grimaldi's account of two sisters taking stock of what's brought them this far is affecting but smile producing as well. A bittersweet slice of life.

      COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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  • English

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