Emily and Einstein by Linda Francis Lee

Sandy Portman is ready to finally tell his wife Emily that he wants a divorce. Before he gets that chance, he is hit by a car and dies. Sandy is granted a second chance, and his soul now resides in a dog, which is soon adopted by none other than his wife. Emily finds an odd comfort in the little white dog, which she names Einstein. Emily, an editor at a publishing house and volunteer at the animal shelter, needs comfort after her husband’s untimely death. And even more comfort after she is being evicted from her family home. Sandy’s family comes from old-money wealth, and even though Sandy promised her their home, he never got around to changing his will. As if that betrayal wasn’t enough, as Emily is going through Sandy’s office, she stumbles across numerous affairs her husband had while they married. Emily is devastated, and relies on Einstein to help keep her spirits up. She doesn’t realize that Einstein is now her husband, who is being forced to watch the pain he inflicted upon his wife play out. Can Sandy help Emily move on from the mistakes that he made in his human life? Will it grant him a second chance, or will be destined to stay a dog forever- or simply fade away?

Emily and Einstein by Linda Francis Lee was quite interesting. The book is written both in Emily and Einstein/Sandy’s point of view, which I think was needed to understand both characters fully. While I loved Emily’s character- a hardworking, faithful wife, good spirit, I truly hated Sandy. It was to the point where I almost wanted to stop reading because he turned me off so much. He took no regard for any of the mistakes he made, always blaming someone else- usually Emily- for the actions he took in life. It was disgusting. The ending saved this book for me though. Finally, towards the very last pages, Sandy appears somewhat remorseful for putting Emily through so much pain. If that hadn’t happened, I’m not sure what I would have rated this book. While I disliked Sandy’s character so much, I disliked a lot of other people in the book as well. I wished there would have been more, well, nicer, people being written about. But Sandy, his mom, Emily’s sister, Emily’s co-workers, boss, are all plain mean people. I know there are plenty of terrible people in this world, but to have so many in one book was a little overwhelming. At the same time, Emily and Einstein really made me think, about life, the people we share it with, and how to overcome challenges. If I focus on that, along with what I thought was a great ending to the story, then I did enjoy this book. You can see from my review that I was clearly on the fence, but I would recommend this read. See what you take away from the characters and their journeys, and I hope you enjoy.