It’s been three years since Claire Kite lost her husband, David, an aspiring novelist, in a tragic car accident. Claire finally finds the courage to move on; then she discovers among the remnants of her shattered world her husband’s last manuscript. It’s intimate, stirring—and unfinished. An idea comes to her…What if she can find someone to give David’s novel the ending it deserves?
Whitaker Grant is famous for his one and only bestselling novel—a masterpiece that became a hit film. But after being crippled by the pressure of success and his failed marriage, Whitaker retreated from the public eye in his native St. Petersburg, Florida. Years later, he’s struggling through a deep midlife crisis. Until he receives an intriguing request from a lonely widow. To honor David’s story, Whitaker must understand, heart and soul, the man who wrote it and the woman he left behind.
There’s more to the novel than anyone dreamed. Something personal. Something true. Maybe, in bringing a chapter of David’s life to a close, Claire and Whitaker can find hope for a new beginning.
Comment: The blurb of this book caught my attention and I was also led to think I'd like it because it was in one of those lists of "if you like this, then you'll want to try that". In a way, I've found similarities to other women's fiction stories I've read, but the writing was just.. meh.
In this story protagonist Claire Kite is finally ready to deal with her late husband's office, three years after David's death. Among his possessions she finds a manuscript and she is amazed by the talent her husband had and by the story. However, it's an unfinished story and she believes the world should also have it, and she decides to contact a local author, who got national recognition for his only published novel. At first author Whitaker Grant says no but a series of situations make him change his mind and he jumps in on the project. While they spend time together investigating this and that, they become closer but what will happen when they realize the story is actually based on David and his real life inspiration?
The story is a little predictable, especially if one adds certain elements, such as the grieving widow who is now ready to move on and a successful author who lost his ability to write, and how they will likely become a new couple. The fact they discover something sensational about the deceased spouse isn't that hard to imagine either and neither is the fact it wasn't a bad thing - although shocking bad news seem to be more common.
I liked the protagonists as individuals. Claire isn't overcome with grief but she has been mourning and some things still make her days hard but she is trying to cope and she has distractions, such as her restaurant, to keep going. Of course the unfinished story idea is a bit far fetched but not an impossible one... I still think her conveniently having an author nearby to help was a bit too much but this has definitely romance elements too, so not that impossible. Claire seems to be likable and friendly but I was never amazed by her personality.
The hero is actually more complex. One of those situations where his first work was a huge success and now there are expectations but Whitaker feels he has no more to give. He still tries but sees himself as a typist rather than a writer and even has another job to pay the bills. I could sympathize with his thoughts of not doing the best he can or not being able to do it, and his sense of inadequacy. He is probably in what we could say is a depressed state and Claire's request makes him feel everything again. He doesn't want more failures and he declines.
At this point, both protagonists were not in their best and the author's decision to write this in a dramatic way, along with some drama, which usually wins me over, should have been a great way for the story to become more interesting, but... it was boring. I'm sad to day but my issue with this is that the story as a whole, was boring.... I think the author spent so much time preparing things, setting up the protagonist's lives and how they could converge, that the actual plot development was boring.
After a lot of going back and forth in doing this or that, accepting to write or not, and the actual work, I thought that this would now mean the romance would have more attention but even that happened in a very subtle way, as any woman's fiction usually indicates.When they find out why David was writing the novel and what he used as inspiration, I felt that while this was clearly not the author's intention, the story started to feel like a Hallmark movie... things were predictable, yes, but lacked the depth that the author seemed to have used in the first chapters. Or, perhaps, I was simply losing interest and that was how I saw things then.
I feel a little sad over my reaction, I wanted to like this more... even more so when I think about the gorgeous covers (this author is lucky; and the aesthetics of his covers call to me) and, more importantly, of the blurbs of his books, all of which seem intriguing. I'll have to use a cliche again but the execution didn't seem to be in par with the ideas and possibilities... what a pity.
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