To the Green-eyed Lovebird:
We met fifteen years ago, almost to the day, when I moved my stuff into the NYU dorm room next to yours at Senior House.
You called us fast friends. I like to think it was more.
We lived on nothing but the excitement of finding ourselves through music (you were obsessed with Jeff Buckley), photography (I couldn’t stop taking pictures of you), hanging out in Washington Square Park, and all the weird things we did to make money. I learned more about myself that year than any other.
Yet, somehow, it all fell apart. We lost touch the summer after graduation when I went to South America to work for National Geographic. When I came back, you were gone. A part of me still wonders if I pushed you too hard after the wedding…
I didn’t see you again until a month ago. It was a Wednesday. You were rocking back on your heels, balancing on that thick yellow line that runs along the subway platform, waiting for the F train. I didn’t know it was you until it was too late, and then you were gone. Again. You said my name; I saw it on your lips. I tried to will the train to stop, just so I could say hello.
After seeing you, all of the youthful feelings and memories came flooding back to me, and now I’ve spent the better part of a month wondering what your life is like. I might be totally out of my mind, but would you like to get a drink with me and catch up on the last decade and a half?
M
✼
After reading another of Renee Carlino's novels (Swear On This Life) on a summer holiday last year, I knew that when packing for a city break last week, there was no better choice than Before We Were Strangers. I was so busy that I didn't actually get chance to even start the book until I was on the plane home. Nevertheless, by the time the plane had landed less than three hours later, I had already finished the book.
I think that tells you everything you need to know about how much I enjoyed the book. I love an unconventional structure to a story, and this was done beautifully. Learning about Mike and Grace as a young couple, then reverting to their present selves with the lives they have been forced to lead alone, really touched my heart. It actually broke my heart in a lot of ways. I thought this book would be very predictable (as most romantic stories tend to be), but the plot of this book actually surprised me in many places. It kept me on my toes, and I found myself tripping over the words, desperate to get to the next chapter to find out what happened.
I didn't think that Before We Were Strangers could live up to my love for Carlino's other novel, Swear On This Life, but it surprised me by capturing my heart just as much. It was such a sweet story about love, and about second chances, and I absolutely adored every second of reading it.
Rating: ✫✫✫✫✫
SPOILER ALERT
The Story
From the blurb on the back of the book, I knew this story would be heartbreakingly beautiful throughout. And I wasn't at all disappointed. This author knows how to write romance in a very real, and very raw way, that makes the reader's heart ache for things to work out. I was anticipating the structure of this book being slightly unconventional, as I've experienced Carlino's books before. I always think it is such a gamble to go with a different type of narrative, as it could so easily go wrong, and the story could suffer for it. However, this was done, as I expected, really really well.
We meet Mike in the present day, as we're learning about his life a little until by chance he sees Grace, his childhood sweetheart, who he hasn't seen in fifteen years. We then revert back to the past, and experience Mike and Grace's relationship as it happened, falling in love with them as they fell in love with each other. I felt like I was looking through a little window into their life together, and I felt surprisingly protective over them. Their young selves were both so endearing, and so vulnerable, that I rooted for them with my whole heart.
I actually think that what made my investment so strong in their relationship was that it felt very real. The way they were drawn to each other, and started off as friends. The way that their lives were messy, and that they had vulnerabilities that affected their relationship; it was all very reminiscent of young adults. They were trying to make their way through the world, and they happened to find each other. They learned to lean on each other, and support each other. It reminded me very much of the way I was at that stage in life, and so I felt incredibly protective of them as a pair.
When Mike left to work for National Geographic, it was obviously very evident that this would be the way they parted, as we already knew that they were to meet again in the future. But I still resisted it! I still didn't want it to happen, even though I knew they needed to fall apart in order to fall back together. Reading about Grace's heartache after Mike left, feeling that she had been abandoned, was very sad, and I felt for her a lot. I was a little confused as to why Mike had done that to her, but, obviously, all was explained in the next section.
✼
Back in the present, it was a bit of a shock to the system to leap forward that many years, but it really did help to keep the plot moving. Not for a second of this book did I want to put it down and take a break, and I think that's a testament to the way the story is written. It's emotional, it's exciting, and the pace is very good. Not for a moment is the story boring.
However, I must say, I really did think I had the story sussed. A lot of stories like this, focusing on romance, tend to be quite predictable, simply because the reader just expects that happy ending. And although that did still happen, I was not prepared for the twists and turns in the latter stages of the book. Finding out that Grace had married Dan was surprising, although not necessarily shocking. Discovering that Mike's ex-wife Liz had played an enormous part in keeping him away from Grace angered me, if not necessarily surprising me. But learning about Ash - that I did not anticipate in the slightest!
But I really appreciated it. I liked that these two characters did not just live their lives on the surface in that time simply to make this story more convenient for the author to close. They had full, difficult, and messy lives, as they should have, and when Mike and Grace revisit their relationship, they are forced to deal with what has come between. What I love about Carlino's work is that it encourages you, as a reader, to reach for the stars and claim nothing less than the love that you deserve. But, it also shows you that this won't necessarily be simple. It isn't going to be the easy option all of the time, but it will be worth it. And I think that message is so important. Despite what happens, you can have a happy ever after. I think that message is why I resonate so strongly with this book. It's real, but that doesn't mean it isn't magical too.
The Verdict
It's probably very clear by now that I absolutely adored this book. I read it from front to back, cover to cover in just a couple of hours, and I loved every moment.
The story was romantic, of course, which is what I love in books like this. However, what I think it more impressive, more heartwarming, and more significant is that the story isn't necessarily as you expect. The happy ever after comes, but it's surprising. I truly think Renee Carlino writes a new form of romantic fiction, in that it has all of the elements of soppy love stories that we just love to devour, but that it is also far more real. Her books aren't fairytales, stories that just happen to magically work out perfectly despite all that has come before. The happy ever after isn't what we expect, but it is still, in its own way, perfect.
Learning to pull the fairytale out of the messy reality was the message here for me, and I believe that's such an important thing to remember.
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