Romance at its finest.
“Tilly had longed for a simple life and devoting herself to God. Kate had longed for a simple life and devoting herself to Tilly.”
Rarely do I feel like a book so emphatically resonates with me. All of the pieces have to come together just right. And they did.
Kate and Tilly were best friends at their catholic boarding school. After graduation, they lost touch. Kate has tried to get over Tilly for 12 years. Kate ends up taking a temporary teaching position at the school. And Tilly ends up walking right back into her life. To Kate’s surprise, Tilly never took her vows to become a nun. To even more surprise, Tilly is engaged to be married to a handsome Vicar and stepmother to his children.
This was so very complicated. There was longing that I felt in my bones. Deep feelings so heavy they were destined to be revealed. Interactions charged with want. Emotions ran the gamut.
Virginia Hale is such a talented writer. She showed us this beautiful relationship between two women. No telling. Showing us with looks, words, and touches. I read a ridiculous amount of books and so few of them can make me feel what the characters are feeling. I loved. I ached. I desired. I hoped.
And who hasn’t ever felt this way but never had the words as eloquent to describe?:
“It was hard to throw Tilly a buoy when she was in desperate need of a lifeline too.”
I didn’t even have to finish this book to know it was going to be one of my all time favorites. Not a single complaint. I loved all of the author’s decisions and direction. I’m feeling like this review is inadequate because I can’t find the right words to say how much I loved this.
I recommend this to everyone. Romance, second chances, feelings of unrequited love, religious guilt, emotional affair, infidelity, slow burn, will they/won’t they, and ferries.