This is a story about the kind of selfless love that true friendship implies. A sensitive powerful woman’s friendship.beautifully written!!! from candles glowing on the snow in winter, duckings in the summer, darkness in the houses at night, sipping teas, the rivers, birch, cherry and apple trees,įlowerbeds along the fence, daffodils among the weeds, the warmth of the kitchen, smells from cooking - etc.Ī small novel - 246 pages. The writing creates an melancholic aura which becomes peaceful reading.the seasons are great supporting characters in their own rite. The village where they live - with the seasons changing gives us a quiet reflective novel. Their age difference adds a rich quality. Veronica and Astrid have a beautiful companionship. I had remembered those quotes - for their own merits - ( even thinking of a few authors I’ve interacted with who could take a lesson).lol.īut as I read the rest of this book - those quotes took on a more specific powerful And hope that it will fare well”.Īstrid responded by saying, “yes, we must let go of even the most precious things”. You are there to protect it and look after it, you suffer with it and rejoice with it.īut in the end you have to let it live it’s own life. Perhaps it is a little like having a child. “It feels like such a long time ago since I wrote it.

Astrid, a reclusive woman, who has lived in this village her entire life, was living with a painful secret from her past.Ī beautiful friendship develops over meals - wine - music - walks - strawberry’s & mushroom picking in autumn - and talks.sharing sensitive stories with one forting each other’s quiet suffering.Įarly in their friendship- Veronica gave Astrid one of her previous novels.

In the meantime Veronica becomes friends with her neighbor- Astrid - who was in her 80’s. The book she set out to write became increasingly elusive. Veronica would sit at her computer for hours each day - in touch with the past which she thought was going to be easy to write - but that wasn’t so. It struck her that her own memories seemed more clear in this new unrelated environment. She had dreams of the beach and sea every night - but most mornings only a fragment remained.yet the feelings lingered all day. She was hoping to reconcile a recent tragedy while finishing her latest novel. Veronica, is a young writer who came to New Zealand - rented a small house in a small village in Sweden. Many thanks to Jenny for telling me about this lovely novel by Swedish born novelist,

Astrid and veronika