A Hundred Small Lessons by Ashley Hay
Published: November 28, 2017
Publisher: Atria Books
Format: via NetGalley
Rating: 4/5
Synopsis
When Elsie Gormley leaves the Brisbane house in which she has lived for more than sixty years, Lucy Kiss and her family move in, eager to establish their new life. As they settle in, Lucy and her husband Ben struggle to navigate their transformation from adventurous lovers to new parents, taking comfort in memories of their vibrant past as they begin to unearth who their future selves might be. But the house has secrets of its own, and the rooms seem to share recollections of Elsie’s life with Lucy.
In her nearby nursing home, Elsie traces the span of her life—the moments she can’t bear to let go and the places to which she dreams of returning. Her beloved former house is at the heart of her memories of marriage, motherhood, love, and death, and the boundary between present and past becomes increasingly porous for both her and Lucy. Over the course of one hot Brisbane summer, two families’ stories intersect in sudden and unexpected ways. Through the richly intertwined narratives of two ordinary, extraordinary women.
My Thoughts
A Hundred Small Lessons is a charming tale of two different women who inhabit the same house at different times yet their stories and lives aren’t that different. Elsie has lived in her house for so many years yet when she can no longer care for it or herself she sells it to Lucy and her family and their two lives are told in alternating voices shows us that while we all have different challenges in life are basic troubles and every day lives aren’t that different than anyone else's.
Through Elsie, we hear her life story of love, loss and everything in between and how Lucy’s life kind of intwines with that of Elsie. All of this light, loss, and secrets that this house keeps in so intriguing that it is nothing but beyond beautiful. I loved this story and how it all intertwines with the house as its foundation. This is one book that took me by surprise and I’m so delighted I took the time to read this rich book that focuses on family.
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