Author: Beth Morley
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Publication Date: April 5, 2022
Book Description: A heartening and life-affirming novel about a single mother learning to make a bigger life, and the power of human connection to grow our worlds.
Delphine Jones’s world is about to get much bigger…if only she’d let it.
Devoted single mother Delphine Jones is an expert at putting her head down and moving through life one day at a time. Since getting pregnant at sixteen, her circle has only ever included her now eleven-year-old daughter and best friend, Em, and her complicated father whom they live with. But when an opportunity for her to finish school presents itself, Delphine finally does something she hasn’t done in years: she takes a chance on herself. Sometimes all it takes is one chance.
As Delphine rediscovers her passions and her belief in herself, her circle expands to include an Oscar-winning actress turned teacher, an Eritrean couple running a local café-cum-jazz club, an elderly French widow looking to converse, and a handsome musician who awakens something in Delphine that she thought had been long buried. But as Delphine’s eyes and heart start to open, she must also face questions she’s stonewalled for more than a decade, questions about Em’s father. Is she brave enough?
Rating: 4 Stars
Review: I went into this book with not a lot of information, but I think it made for a much better reading experience for me. Delphine Jones is a single mom, caregiver to her widowed father and in a dead end job that leaves her stretched thin pretty much always. In the opening she loses this job, which ultimately sparks Delphine to find the life she was always meant to lead.
With the help of her daughter and some new friends Delphine takes a chance on herself. With a new support system in place and people just rooting for her success, she goes back to school, starts singing again, all while be able to earn the money she needs to support her family.
Ultimately her decisions have an effect on her family and friends too in the most delightful ways. Morrey also gives us a little bit of mystery throughout, on how things derailed so badly for her.
This is such a satisfying read, and you will find yourself rooting for Delphine just like her family and friends. Enjoy this one.
Thank you NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s Sons for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Obsessed Bookaholic 