Rating: 4.6
Rita, an unconventional hair stylist, has a dream, and she is determined to find and help that lonely soul. He soon appears in the form of John Reed, an unassuming, dejected thirtysomething hovering at the back of an Alanon meeting. As their friendship blossoms into romance, John reveals that his brother brutally murdered his wife and then killed himself, leaving their three-year-old daughter, Aileen, orphaned. Aileen was, and still is, very precious to John, but the three maternal aunts who became her legal guardians will have nothing to do with him because he so closely resembles his homicidal brother. Assertive and persistent, Rita helps John win over his aunts, but as their acceptance of John grows, so does a chasm between John and Rita.
This is a light and easy read and I especially loved the eccentric and quirky Rita and her big heart. I found myself chucking over lines like: "Either people shrink with age, or short people live longer" and how she collects various people's hair snippets, and stores them in a glass jar, creating "a mix of love and betrayals and partings and death." This is the first time I have rated a book as both a "Beach Read" and a "Best of" category but, this was a thoroughly enjoyable light little book.
Rita, an unconventional hair stylist, has a dream, and she is determined to find and help that lonely soul. He soon appears in the form of John Reed, an unassuming, dejected thirtysomething hovering at the back of an Alanon meeting. As their friendship blossoms into romance, John reveals that his brother brutally murdered his wife and then killed himself, leaving their three-year-old daughter, Aileen, orphaned. Aileen was, and still is, very precious to John, but the three maternal aunts who became her legal guardians will have nothing to do with him because he so closely resembles his homicidal brother. Assertive and persistent, Rita helps John win over his aunts, but as their acceptance of John grows, so does a chasm between John and Rita.