Title: The Second Chance Bus Stop
Author: Ally Zetterberg
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4 out of 5
They say life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.
Edith has Alzheimer’s. The idea that she will someday forget her son, her life, even her self, plagues her constantly. So there is something important she must do before the disease robs her of her she has to find Sven, the love of her life she was supposed to meet on a bus bench twenty-seven years ago and run off with, but he never showed.
Her son, Blade, is struggling to keep an eye on her. His mother’s full-time caregiver, he resents the fact, if he’s being honest, that he gave up his career and most of his life to look after her. But what wouldn’t he do for his mother? Track down her decades-old flame so that she has a chance to finally understand why he never showed all those years ago, before her mind fails her? Sure, he can do that.
Sophia is fiercely working to keep her business afloat. Her uncle left his flower shop to her and her brothers after he died, but she seems to be the only one interested in keeping it running. She needs to land a big enough client to show her family that not only is the business worth saving but she’s the one to do it. So when an opportunity comes along that takes her all over Sweden, she can’t say no.
While Edith is desperately trying to hold on to her memories, she discovers friendship with a young woman who sits with her daily at the bus stop. While Blade is out looking for Sven, he learns to embrace his relationship with his mother more fully. While Sophia is fighting to keep her dream alive, she comes to terms with the way her parents treated her as a child and the therapies that were forced upon her in response to her autism diagnosis. Life is happening all around them, and much like with life, there’s so much good to be found in these pages.
At first, I wasn’t sure I’d like this, but I ended up enjoying it a lot. Sophia’s family was…really difficult to like. In her memories, they were pretty horrible to her, but I liked how eventually she was able to explain herself to them and they started trying to understand her behavior, even if they weren’t good at understanding. Sophie herself was a little hard to connect to, but I liked her sheer determination and courage.
Blade was a bit of a wet blanket to me. He seemed exceedingly passive and content to just drift along, buffeted by events and people around him without putting much actual effort out himself.
I have a family history of Alzheimer’s, so reading Edith’s point-of-view was really heartbreaking to me. That she knew she was losing bits of herself was just so sad to me, but I think the author captured it beautifully.
Ally Zetterberg is British/Swedish. The Second Chance Bust Stop is her newest novel.
(Galley courtesy of Harlequin Trade Publishing | MIRA in exchange for an honest review.)
Tomorrow Is Another Day 