If you have read my blog for a while and followed me on Instagram, you know I'm a fan of Katherine Center's novels. I have heard Ms. Center describe her books as stories of people who get knocked down, and find a way to get back up. I have also heard Ms. Center speak of the benefits of love stories and romance novels and happy endings. In one interview, she said readers can relax, knowing the two love interests will somehow find a way to be together at the end. As the writer, she will not have one character suddenly get hit by a bus at the end of the book. At the beginning of the book, it's a possibility, but by the end things will work out. (In fact, the book's Author's Note is an absolute must-read.)
All that is true in terms of Katherine Center's newest novel Hello Stranger.
I found myself immediately liking Sadie, which meant there were a few nights I stayed up later than I anticipated, because I had to read one more chapter.
Here are some of the passages that spoke to me:
"Back home after that night in the hospital, nothing about my shack, or my life, or myself had ever felt less fantastic. It's a disorienting thing to know there's something wrong with you. It made everything about my life seem different. Worse. False. Like I'd been misunderstanding everything all along."
"You are also your whole life story. And your sense of humor. And your homemade doughnut recipe. And your love for ghost stories. And the way you savor ocean breezes. And the appreciation you have for how the colors pink and orange go together.
You're not just your face, is what I mean."
" 'I'm just going to take a fake-it-til-ya-make-it approach.' That's what I'd been doing my whole life. 'If I can't be okay, I'll seem okay.'
" 'Seeming okay and being okay are not the same thing.'
" 'Close enough.'
" 'In fact,' she said, leaning in a little, 'they might cancel each other out.'
" 'Are you saying I should just walk around wailing and weeping?'
" 'I'm saying,' she said, 'that it's better to be real than fake.'
"I could have argued with her. But I had a feeling I'd lose.
"Dr. Nicole went on. 'It might help people to know what's going on with you. It might help them help you.' "
"Maybe the best way to keep her with me was to embrace her spirit. To emulate her courage. To bring the warmth and love to the world that she always — fearlessly — had.
"She had loved us without reservation. She adored us wildly. And laughed. And danced. And soaked it all up — every atom of her life — every moment of her time.
"She felt it all. She lived it all."
"It's so strange to me now, looking back on that upside-down time in my life, how many good things came out of it. If you'd asked me at the time, I'd have told you everything was ruined forever.
"But of course the fact it was all so hard is part of what made things better.
"It forced me into therapy for a while, for one.
"It forced me to rethink what making art meant in my life.
"It forced me to reevaluate some ideas that I'd never questioned about who we all are and what it all means. Because things were so overwhelming, I had no choice but to accept some help. And then I found out that letting people help you isn't so bad."
"But I find the antidote to that is just keeping a sense of humor. And staying humble. And laughing a lot. And doubling down on smiling. We're all just muddling through, after all. We're all just doing the best we can. We're all struggling with our struggles. Nobody has the answers. And everybody, deep down, is a little bit lost."
"The more good things you look for, the more you find."
A side note: my Katherine Center fandom includes purchases from the shop on her website. Highly recommend!
These framed Katherine Center prints hang on the wall above my desk.
Please note: I am including a link to buy the book that I'm highlighting this week. If you use my link, I do make a small commission on your purchase at no additional cost to you. I am working with Bookshop.org which also sends a portion of the profit to support local, independent bookstores.
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