Rating: 4.5 stars
Smart Bitches Summer Bingo: Plants or flowers on the cover
Cary and Shiloh were best friends in high school. They saw each other every day, told each other everything, and were utterly inseparable. Everyone thought they were in love and would end up together, but by graduation, they're still just friends. Both come from unstable family environments and dream of getting out of Omaha. Shiloh is going to college to become an actress and Cary has joined the Navy. Once Cary finishes boot camp, he is certain what he wants and needs to do. He shows up at Shiloh's college and they spend 48 hours together, finally acting on their long-repressed feelings for one another. But neither of them is old or mature enough to say what they actually want and need. Shiloh knows Cary has dreamed of seeing the world and getting away from Omaha his whole life, she's not going to stop him from going. Cary has waited and longed for years, but since Shiloh seems perfectly happy to send him on his way, he assumes he misinterpreted her affections.
The two of them don't speak again for fourteen years. Shiloh gets married, has two kids, gets divorced. Cary works diligently in the Navy, slowly advancing in rank. They both get the occasional update about the other's life from their friend Mikey, who was also their best friend (but never like THAT). When Mikey marries for the second time in 2006, both Cary and Shiloh are hoping the other will be there, without wanting to admit to themselves why it's so vital for them to reunite. Shiloh is late for the ceremony, but shows up for the reception, and despite Cary being one of the groomsmen, he and Shiloh pretty much ignore everyone else the whole time, just talking, and eventually slow dancing the evening away.
Meeting at the wedding may mean another chance for them, but neither Cary nor Shiloh are the unencumbered teenagers they once were. Shiloh is a divorced mother with two young children who lives in her childhood home with her mother, she has a manipulative ex-husband and a job she enjoys. Cary is only back in Omaha on leave for a few days, desperately trying to sort out the finances of his elderly mother and still working for the Navy. He's going to be on a ship in the Pacific for months. They finally manage to talk about their brief, passionate weekend so long ago, and the misunderstandings that led to their heartbreak and disappointment and having no contact for so long. They promise to keep in touch from now on, and Shiloh agrees to help out if something happens to Cary's mother.
This time, when Cary leaves, it's not a total goodbye. He and Shiloh send texts and e-mails and Shiloh steps in and helps when Cary's mother has a fall and needs to be taken to the hospital. Six months of e-mails, letters and care packages later, Cary is sure what he needs to do. But is it too late, has he misinterpreted things again? Can he convince Shiloh that while they squandered more than a decade of their pasts, there is still hope for their future?
I started reading this pretty immediately after finishing Sanctuary by Ilona Andrews. On the surface, the contrast between the two stories could hardly have been greater. One is an action-packed paranormal story full of magical critters and dark gods, while the other is a slow-burn contemporary novel full of wistfulness and regrets. However, both stories are about adults who have been through a lot of disappointment and hardship in their lives and are just doing their best to get by. There is a hope of reconciliation and new beginnings in each of them.
Rainbow Rowell is one of my favourite authors. After writing the Simon Snow trilogy and for a few different Marvel comics titles, this is her first novel for adults in a decade. Alternating between the characters' present in 2006 and their past, in the 1990s, when Rowell herself was in high school, this story is absolutely not for teens. Shiloh and Cary are in their early thirties and have both lived a life, much of it away from each other, yet never really forgetting about the other.
For a lot of this book, I felt frustrated about how many misunderstandings and how much of the story was complicated by a failure of the characters to communicate clearly. Rowell has said that of her previous novels, this one is probably a tonal sibling to Eleanor & Park, and that is a good comparison. Neither Cary nor Shiloh had happy, stable home lives growing up. They have messy family situations and life seems to throw a lot of obstacles in their path to a possible happy ending. Rowell also makes it very clear that teenagers are rarely the best at expressing themselves or knowing exactly what they want and need in any given situation.
While the plot in 2006 progresses in chronological order, the flashbacks to the past keep jumping back to various points in Shiloh and Cary's friendship. The POV changes between Shiloh and Cary and the reader is privy to their thoughts and hopes and therefore the mutual pining for so long throughout the book. It's a very romantic story, for all that it is slow and wistful and the characters have a lot of baggage to work through before daring to take the plunge and love again.
Both Shiloh and Cary are damaged people, who find it hard to trust. It's one of the reasons they found closeness in their teenage years, and why they still can't let go of the hope of the other, even after fourteen years apart. There's quite a bit of pain and angst before our characters finally get their happy ending, but it feels so worth it once they do. When I got the chance to buy a signed hardback copy while visiting the US, I happily took it, even though I'd already pre-ordered the book to my e-reader months before. Considering how dreadful the exchange rate is for Norwegians at the moment, that should tell you something of my love and dedication to Ms. Rowell.
Judging a book by its cover: I really don't like the green of the cover (which is slightly lighter on the actual book than in this picture). It feels sort of putrid. The crushed, slightly wiled corsage on the cover seems very appropriate though, considering the story within. It can symbolise a number of things.
Crossposted on Cannonball Read
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