Best friends forever, but what if it’s not forever?

Synopsis

When Florence met Rowena, they knew for sure that they would always be friends.

Wayward parents, boring teachers, teenage crushes, first heartbreaks – anything and everything could be faced as long as Florence had Rowena by her side.

But then she didn’t.

And life had to be redrawn and reconsidered.

Being a grown-up has its perks, but as Rowena faces the biggest challenge of her life, and Florence wonders if it’s time to stop running away from hers, there’s a wise soul who knows the one thing that can help them both. Some friendships are meant to last forever, and it’s never too late for forever to start again.

Joyous and heart-breaking, laugh-out-loud funny, life-affirming and unforgettable, join Flo and Ro on a journey that will warm your heart and perhaps make you wonder about those old friends who knew you so well.

My review

Florence and Rowena grew up together, knowing that their friendship would last forever. Nothing could ever come between them. Until it did…
Now Florence is living back with her parents. But her parents have sold the house, and want Florence to stand on her own feet but also they want her to stop running away. Florence doesn’t know what to do, and suddenly inheriting a campervan from her old English teacher isn’t exactly giving her the answers she is looking for. Or is it?
Meanwhile Rowena is also going to a rough time, as she finds herself pregnant and alone.
For both women this would be where they would rely on their friendship, if it weren’t broken…
Yet with a little bit of help from an old teacher that sadly passed away, perhaps they can find the way to each other and forgiveness? 

I think it’s safe to say that when we were children, we all had that one friendship we were 100% certain would last a lifetime.
And while some lasted indeed a lifetime, some just didn’t, for several reasons.
So obviously I was very intrigued and wanted to discover how this strong friendship between Florence and Rowena ended and how it even pulled their lives in a total different direction. 

The focus is mainly on Florence, as I think I can say has been through the roughest times. We see her having a certain wanderlust, going from one place to another, never settling down.
But slowly we get to see it’s not her desire to explore places, but it’s her fear of staying at home to make her pack and leave every time. 

Through flashbacks we get to see how close Florence and Rowena were, how they would do anything for each other. we can easily say they were more sisters than just friends. They could rely on each other for just anything.
So the more I read about their wonderful friendship, the more I just needed to know why it broke and there were never attempts to build those bridges again. 

Once I knew what happened, it was easier for me to put the pieces on the complex puzzle together. Because while it could have been easy to rebuild again, the author shows us also how people work. It’s difficult to make the first move, as pride won’t allow us to get back what we desire. And the more time passes, the more difficult it gets. 

We see two characters that could have needed each other at pivotal moments in their lives, but found reasons/excuses to just not to…
Perhaps if they had each other, their lives would look totally different, with more support and more guidance even. But that’s how life goes, only one apparent small thing can have great effects. 

This book shows us how different our lives can go from what we expected or even dreamed of. People in our lives come and go, even those we love the most, even in the most terrible ways. And trust me on this, you will read passages that will just break your heart.
But we also see that there are people who have our best interest at heart, even an old English teacher that made an impact. 

However, most important of all, no matter how much time has passed, how out of touch you have been with your once – best – friend, if the feelings are genuine and real, it can take a small step to make you forget about those lost years.