Lisa Anselmo

I shied away from this book at first...I didn't want to read about someone's mother dying, and I thought the expat story would be the typical "renovations are hell, but the locals are charming if eccentric and inefficient." Anselmo does chronicle some renovations, but the book is so much more than a renovation/"charming/eccentric locals" story. The account of her mother's death doesn't take up much of the book, but her relationship with her mother, and her recovery from her mother's death is woven through the story...IS the story, really, and it's one I'm glad I read. So many parts of it could've been my story. Figuring out whether you deserve happiness...that's something I still struggle with.… (more)