It’s publication day for The Way We Weren’t by Phoebe Fox! A huge thank you Berkley Publishing for providing me with an advanced copy for review! Let’s get right into it!

An unlikely friendship between a septuagenarian and a younger woman becomes a story of broken trust, lost love, and the unexpected blooming of hope against the longest odds.

“You trying to kill yourself, or are you just stupid?“

Marcie Malone didn’t think she was either, but when she drives from Georgia to the southwestern shore of Florida without a plan and wakes up in a stranger’s home, she doesn’t seem to know anymore. Despondent and heartbroken over an unexpected loss and the man she thought she could count on, Marcie leaves him behind, along with her job and her whole life, and finds she has nowhere to go.

Herman Flint has seen just about everything in his seventy years living in a fading, blue-collar Florida town, but the body collapsed on the beach outside his window is something new. The woman is clearly in some kind of trouble and Flint wants no part of it–he’s learned to live on his own just fine, without the hassle of worrying about others. But against his better judgment he takes Marcie in and lets her stay until she’s on her feet on the condition she keeps out of his way.

As the unlikely pair slowly copes with the damages life has wrought, Marcie and Flint have to decide whether to face up to the past they’re each running from, and find a way to move forward with the people they care about most.

Wow. I mean just…wow. This book gave me many different feelings that I am going to try to unpack in this tiny space.

Have you ever just looked at your life and wanted to walk away and start over somewhere new? Marcie just does it. No plan. No thoughts. Just goes until she ends up passed out on a beach, where Herman Flint (Flint for short) finds her. Flint is the cranky, old 70-year old who needs no one and nothing. But for some reason, he picks Marcie up off the beach and takes her home.

When Marcie comes to, we slowly unravel what made Marcie run away from her husband and career. We get to know her and watch her piece together what could make her happy. In addition, we also get to know Flint and find out why he’s alone. We watch an unlikely friendship form as both characters begin to piece together what’s happened in their lives.

I loved this story! The pacing of the story felt right, and the details of both of their lives were fleshed out throughout the course of the book to where you didn’t feel like any of it was “extra” or unnecessary. Now, I have had a thought or two about running away from my family on those days where the kids are screaming and the husband is being extra unhelpful. This book does not glorify it, and I appreciated that. Not everything was wrapped in a pretty bow – this felt more like real life. I loved the relationship between Marcie and Flint, and kept turning those pages to see where they both would end up.

There is a side story where there are turtle eggs that were laid on the beach that Flint watches out for and teaches Marcie about how they are born, chances for survival, etc. I had learned about this a couple of weeks ago from a Hallmark movie. Then, randomly, I was watching Tik Tok and there was a video about turtles hatching under someone’s beach chair at a resort. So many turtles keep popping up in my life, I had to look this up – is it a sign? If it is, then many websites indicate that I must slow down as my thoughts and physical world begin to meet, and to go after what I want determined but slowly/carefully. For me? That’s my blog and bookstagram!

https://instagram.com/familywithbooks

You can pick up your copy of The Way We Weren’t today!