Book Smart Kate

Book: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Audiobook: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Spice: closed door

by Colleen Oakley (2021) Many thanks to @prhaudio for the gifted audiobook and to my friend from work who recommended this incredibly tender, thoughtful book.

Anders Caldwell always wanted to be Clark Kent (not Superman, Clark Kent), but his journalism and podcasting career are not shaping up to be as groundbreaking as he had imagined. Then he is assigned to an annual cake contest on Frick Island, a small, isolated community in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay. Although initially put off by the island, he soon becomes fascinated with Piper Parrish. Piper lost her husband, Tom, when his boat capsized. Wrapped in unimaginable grief, she processed things the only way she knew how – by continuing on as if it never happened. She continues to walk him to work every morning, cook him breakfast, have meals with him at the local cafe, and go about daily life with her husband – who most definitely isn’t there. Much to Anders’ shock, the entire island goes along with it – waving hello to Tom and conversing with a man who isn’t there. THE ENTIRE ISLAND. Anders decides to make a podcast about it and finally begins to get the audience he craves. But the more popular his podcast becomes and the more time he spends with Piper, the less he is sure he should continue because Piper and the island have gotten under his skin.

This is a fascinating story about love, loss, grief, and community. I really enjoyed the arc of Anders as his character evolves from thinking Piper and the island’s residents are unwell to something much more complex and tender. I also enjoyed how Piper’s story unfolds parallel to the island. When fearing change, we often wrap ourselves in the familiar, but when we open ourselves up to change, we sometimes discover it is needed to grow and preserve the past. My only tiny critique is that it might be more effective if Piper and Anders were a few years older. Still, it is a truly beautiful story that doesn’t shy away from the pain of grief and how we process loss while also being a fun, quirky story about love in all its forms.