About the Book
An uplifting novel about a heartbroken young pie maker who is granted a magical second chance to live the life she didn’t choose. . . . from the bestselling author of The Enlightenment of Bees.
Lolly Blanchard’s life only seems to give her lemons. Ten years ago, after her mother’s tragic death, she broke up with her first love and abandoned her dream of opening a restaurant in order to keep her family’s struggling Seattle diner afloat and care for her younger sister and grieving father. Now, a decade later, she dutifully whips up the diner’s famous lemon meringue pies each morning while still pining for all she’s lost.
As Lolly’s thirty-third birthday approaches, her quirky great-aunt gives her a mysterious gift—three lemon drops, each of which allows her to live a single day in a life that might have been hers. What if her mom hadn’t passed away? What if she had opened her own restaurant in England? What if she hadn’t broken up with the only man she’s ever loved? Surprising and empowering, each experience helps Lolly let go of her regrets and realize the key to transforming her life lies not in redoing her past but in having the courage to embrace her present.
My Review
Just in time to be added to my list of 2022 book favorites! From the start I was pulled into Lolly’s world – a young woman who sacrificed so much of her life and her own dreams after her mother’s untimely death, taking on the responsibility of keeping her family together. When Lolly is confronted with her list of goals she made as a teenager and realizes she can’t cross off a single one, she struggles not to go into a complete tailspin over how her life has turned out. She still misses her mother terribly, she works at the family diner instead of running her own restaurant outside of her hometown, and the love of her life has moved on and married someone else. But when Lolly’s aunt offers her three lemon drops that will let her see a glimpse into the life she would have had if she made different choices, everything changes. With each trip to her alternate life, Lolly wonders how she can use what she saw to change her current life – or is there a possibility she can get a do-over?
I love magical realism in stories and the premise behind seeing what our lives could look like with just one change was fascinating to me. Lolly was such a likeable character – she clearly took on too much responsibility at a young age and a lot of that was self-inflicted, but her intentions to do good by those she loved was clear throughout the story. This book made me think a lot about my own life and what three scenarios I would change if I had the ability. The ending gave me goosebumps and was this was truly a story of magical second chances. Highly recommend you read this.
5 stars
