RATING ★★★★☆
GENRE: FICTION, Contemporary, Romance
Goodnotes Book Summary
Mabel Beaumont’s husband Arthur loved lists. He’d leave them for her everywhere. ‘Remember: eggs, butter, sugar’. ‘I love you: today, tomorrow, always’.
But now Arthur is gone. He died: softly, gently, not making a fuss. But he’s still left her a list. This one has just one item on it though: ‘Find D’.
Mabel feels sure she knows what it means. She must track down her best friend Dot, who she hasn’t seen since the fateful day she left more than sixty years ago.
First Impressions
I do admit that I’m an overly emotional person but the first few chapters of this book had me in tears. Being married for as long as Mabel and Arthur were is something so admirable, so rare; it is something that I hope to celebrate one day.
There was more to the story though, it emphasized friendship and the importance of companionship and vulnerability.
My thoughts
I felt a lot of emotions reading this book. I felt the loss of Arthur – a life partner, the loss of that stability and comfort; the anxiousness of being alone and navigating through a new “normal” and the apprehension of meeting new people – wanting to be part of their lives, to be friends, and hoping their intentions were genuine.
At eighty-six years old Mabel forges new friendships with women in all aspects of life. It’s so beautiful to witness – seeing women whom she’s barely considered acquaintances become lifelong friends; stopping in daily for tea and walks, exchanging gifts during the holidays, and helping with her search to find Dot, her best friend.
There’s one quote in the book that captures its essence
And that’s a privilege, at my age. To change something, or learn something. To keep growing.
That’s what most of us strive for, to change something in our lives – to make it better, right? To learn something new about culture, our profession, or to continue to learn about those dearest to us. Mabel challenged herself to keep growing, to learn to live without Arthur, and to let go of the way she used to approach life.
The book also reminded me that friendships can should come in all shapes and sizes; we gain perspective that way. If we all had 10 friends who spoke, dressed, and thought exactly like us… how would we grow or learn how to empathize? I don’t think we would.
