Author: Anne Ostby
Publication Date: August 1, 2017
Publisher: Doubleday
A novel of five
lifelong friends who, in their sixties, decide to live together on a cocoa farm
in Fiji, where they not only start a chocolate business but strengthen their
friendships and rediscover themselves.
"I've planted my feet on Fijian earth and I intend to stay here until the last sunset. Why don't you join me? Leave behind everything that didn't work out!"
When Sina, Maya, Ingrid, and Lisbeth each receive a letter in the mail posing the same question, the answer is obvious. Their old high school friend Kat--Kat the adventurer, Kat who ran away to the South Pacific as soon as they graduated--has extended the invitation of a lifetime: Come live with me on my cocoa farm in Fiji. Come spend the days eating chocolate and gabbing like teenagers once again, free from men, worries, and cold. Come grow old in paradise, together, as sisters. Who could say no?
Now in their sixties, the friends have all but resigned themselves to the cards they've been dealt. There's Sina, a single mom with financial woes; gentle Maya who feels the world slipping away from her; Ingrid, the perennial loner; Lisbeth, a woman with a seemingly picture-perfect life; and then Kat, who is recently widowed. As they adjust to their new lives together, the friends are watched over by Ateca, Kat's longtime housekeeper, who oftentimes knows the women better than they know themselves and recognizes them for what they are: like "a necklace made of shells: from the same beach but all of them different." Surrounded by an azure-blue ocean, cocoa trees, and a local culture that is fascinatingly, joyfully alien, the friends find a new purpose in starting a business making chocolate: bittersweet, succulent pieces of happiness.
A story of love, hope, and chocolate, Pieces Of Happiness will reaffirm your faith in friendship, second chances, and the importance of indulging one's sweet tooth.
"I've planted my feet on Fijian earth and I intend to stay here until the last sunset. Why don't you join me? Leave behind everything that didn't work out!"
When Sina, Maya, Ingrid, and Lisbeth each receive a letter in the mail posing the same question, the answer is obvious. Their old high school friend Kat--Kat the adventurer, Kat who ran away to the South Pacific as soon as they graduated--has extended the invitation of a lifetime: Come live with me on my cocoa farm in Fiji. Come spend the days eating chocolate and gabbing like teenagers once again, free from men, worries, and cold. Come grow old in paradise, together, as sisters. Who could say no?
Now in their sixties, the friends have all but resigned themselves to the cards they've been dealt. There's Sina, a single mom with financial woes; gentle Maya who feels the world slipping away from her; Ingrid, the perennial loner; Lisbeth, a woman with a seemingly picture-perfect life; and then Kat, who is recently widowed. As they adjust to their new lives together, the friends are watched over by Ateca, Kat's longtime housekeeper, who oftentimes knows the women better than they know themselves and recognizes them for what they are: like "a necklace made of shells: from the same beach but all of them different." Surrounded by an azure-blue ocean, cocoa trees, and a local culture that is fascinatingly, joyfully alien, the friends find a new purpose in starting a business making chocolate: bittersweet, succulent pieces of happiness.
A story of love, hope, and chocolate, Pieces Of Happiness will reaffirm your faith in friendship, second chances, and the importance of indulging one's sweet tooth.
“I’ve planted my
feet on Fijian earth and I intend to stay here until the last sunset. Why don’t
you join me? Leave behind everything that didn’t work out!”
“So I’m going to
send this now, stroking my fingers across the stamps once more for luck, and hoping
the wind will send you to me.”
The enthusiasm in
his words, but most of all, this is what I saw: This is for me. He loves me. The
sweet, heavy pleasure it takes months to cultivate, a long and laborious
process: the love in the glistening fat brown cocoa bean. It’s all for me.
“Can you taste the
flavor of papaya and coconut? Can you hear the wind whistling through the palm
trees on the beach? Can you see the arc of the horizon, where the Pacific Ocean
meets the sky?”
A lovely story about five elderly women who have
taken up residence on a cocoa farm in beautiful Fiji. I love books about friendship
and the binding powers of the relationships we hold most near and dear – these five
women are stages in their lives where they are experiencing heartbreak, loss,
the effects of old age, and regret. The leader of the pack, Kat, decides to
invite them all to her farm in Fiji where she hopes they will forget the
worries of their past lives and maybe live out their last days together
building a chocolate empire. The book starts out a little fluffy and readers
might think they will get tales of happiness, charm, and sparkle, but I was
surprised by how many secrets these women have buried and are still trying to
hide from each other all of these years. I think the book sends a great message
about finding what is important to you and tuning out all the rest. The story
focuses around living your days with no regrets, secrets, or people that weigh
you down.
The novel is written between alternating viewpoints
of each of these women and a maid/hired help that lives close by and helps take
care of Kat and her property. After reading each of the backstories of these
women, I can genuinely say that I felt sorry for some and felt anguish for
others because they lived for others or let others dictate their lives. Each
women has something that I would say she regrets or some way that she wishes
her life were different, but the greatest part was watching them evolve as they
learned to adapt to living on the cocoa farm and working together as a unit.
Each of them finds some piece of solace in their new lives and it was all so
magical to read about – such an amazing and riveting read!
***A free copy of this book was provided to me by
the publishers at Doubleday in exchange for my honest review***
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