Three
things drew me to this novel. First, it takes place in Maine. I’ve always
wanted to live on the coast of Maine; it’s just so darn beautiful. Second, sometimes
when I reflect upon my life, I think, “This isn’t what I signed up for; this
isn’t the way life was supposed to be.” The third reason is the author,
Christina Baker Kline. After reading, and loving, Orphan Train and A Piece of
the World, Kline is one of my favorite authors and I want to read all the books
she has published. And just icing on the cake, the front cover blurb is from
Caroline Leavitt, an author I’m just discovering. So I ask you, “How could I
resist this novel?”
Angela
Russo lives in New York City and is thirty-three years old. She is an event
planner for one of the lesser-known museums. On her office bulletin board is a
cutout magazine photo showing a cottage on the coast of Maine. It portrays such
a simple life; the life Angela has always wanted.
With
her love life is nonexistent, she decides to look into some internet dating
sites. A profile name MaineCatch. He’s thirty-five, has ice-blue eyes and lives
in Cushing, Maine. Angela spends more time mooning over MaineCatch than she
does thinking about the big fundraising event she is planning for the museum. She
has to go to Boston on business, and luckily, MaineCatch sails down to meet
her. The sparks fly.
When
the event goes horribly, horribly, horribly wrong, Angela is fired from her
job. She decided to move north to be with her catch. Things go horribly,
horribly wrong; seems she has misunderstood MaineCatch’s intentions.
Without
a job to return to, Angela decides to stay in Cushing. She finds a little shack
to rent that she can renovate, gets a job in a local coffee house, and begins
to rebuild her life. The knack for the Italian cooking she learned from her
grandmother rises to the surface.
The
novel is written in first person, which I think helps add immediacy to the
story while Kline’s scenic description have me longing to pack me bags and head
Northeast. I was able to live vicariously through Angela. I could barely put
this story down and I didn’t want it to end. I hope in the future Kline writes
a follow-up novel. The Way Life Should Be
6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.
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