Speranza

The Place We Met by Isabelle Broom is a wonderful contemporary novel about love, life and loss. It is a compulsive read. With comprehensive descriptions, the reader ‘experiences’ the heat and delights of Italy’s Lake Como at Christmas and New Year.

Life is a series of meetings and partings. Some partings are harder than others but we cannot wallow in our hurtful past. “There can be no going back, so I have no choice but to move forwards.” Neither can we live in our childhood memories. No matter how wonderful, they will not keep us warm at night.

We all need good friends – friends who know us inside and out, who know the good and bad about us and love us anyway.

Running from the past is futile. If we do not deal with and face our hurts, we will never move forwards.

Chance meetings and coincidences mean the past collides with the present. Forgiveness needs to be given, especially to ourselves. “I just want to go back to being me again… I miss her.” Somewhere in our hurt, we lose sight of who we are.

The novel explores our obsession with body image. “There’s more to a person than the way they look.” We should never try to be others or compare ourselves to others. Each of us is a unique creation.

There is the difficult topic of miscarriage. We mourn for what never was but should have been. The pain consumes. We will never forget but we need to grasp hold of hope and step into the future.

The Place We Met is a gripping read. I empathised with the characters – their insecurities and their love. It was a wonderful read, perfect for any time of year.

I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

JULIA WILSON