When life goes down, can you find a way back up?

Synopsis

Is it ever too late to bloom?

Meet Celia. Life hasn’t worked out quite how she’d planned.

Since her son left for university, Celia has felt stuck at home – battling with her husband Geoff over control of the thermostat, and without the merest glint of a social life. Her only joy comes from the plants she nurtures in her makeshift plant hospital in their Glasgow flat.

Then three unexpected things happen:

1. She catches Geoff in bed with a secretary from his sausage factory (no pun intended).

2. Her high-flying best friend Amanda arrives on her doorstep without warning (but with a very large suitcase).

3. A tall handsome French teacher asks her to tend his daughter’s cactus back to health.

Suddenly, Celia finds her life in freefall, but she makes a decision: she won’t let this be the end of her. She’ll bring herself back to life, just like the plants she works her magic on. But just how do you change the habits of a lifetime?

My review

To say that Celia has the life she always expected to have, would be a lie. While she loves her son deeply, since he left for university, she feels stuck. And Geoff isn’t for sure the love of her life, as there is for sure a constant battle, from the control over the thermostat to expenses. The only ray of light in her present life, is taking care of the plants that people bring to her plant hospital. But suddenly her life changes drastically, as firstly, she catches her husband with his secretary. Then her former best friend Amanda stands at her door, without any warning but with many presumptions. And a new client appears, a handsome teacher, begging to resurrect his daughter’s cactus. With a life now in turmoil, can Celia find her spark back?

It’s not surprising that life never goes as expected. And it is not a secret that when bad things happen, they all happen all at once.

And when you are a strong, independent woman, you can take it all in your stride. Unfortunately, right from the start of the book, it feels that Celia is not that kind of woman. I am not saying she is a gullible, weak, following – like – a – sheep – woman. But you can hardly say that she stands up for herself and has a clear voice…

And maybe that is why I couldn’t truly warm to her right away, as being an Italian woman myself, I raise my voice often enough and perhaps also too loudly 😊. But I also knew that throughout the story , she would be facing situations where she would stand tall, and raise her voice (in a figure of speech, not literally 😊).

Celia is the kind of person that can be used as an example of how life takes a turn, a different one than expected, and how all your dreams can just fade away. Celia made one mistake when she was younger, yet I liked it how she took her responsibility, and the love she has for her son is just palpable from the pages.

And even if perhaps Geoff isn’t the man of her dreams, and he has flaws, I liked it how in the past he was there for Celia. Of course those feelings evaporate the moment we get to know him better, and he is caught with his *ss in the open.

That specific *ss is the start of the actual growth of Celia, as she has had enough of Geoff and his antics. With him out of the picture now, Celia slowly starts to realize how life can be with having that freedom.

Well, it needs to be said, freedom… Because in the midst of her own turmoil, suddenly she finds at her front door her former best friend Amanda. Former best friend, because once again, life sometimes just goes that way. When you are young, you always think that your best friend will always be by your side. However, not all friendships stand the test of time (and life). So I was a bit surprised to see how Amanda decides that Celia is exactly what she needs in her own time of need. Especially as contact has been rather inexistent until Amanda’s wedding and Celia’s presence that was suprising.

With Celia and Amanda now reunited, there is a strange atmosphere, as their characters and lives couldn’t be more different. But in a way, they are exactly what they both need. Celia needs Amanda to get out of her own shell, and Amanda needs Celia to vent, but also to understand that some behaviours aren’t just okay.

And then there is Enzo… He is a divorced man with a daughter that is obsessed  with a cactus. Sounds rather random, but it will make sense, believe me 🙂. When the cactus takes a turn for the worse, that brings him to Celia, as she has magic fingers whenever plants are involved. 

While the initial meeting is not one to remember, slowly there starts something between them. Not overnight of course, as Enzo himself in a bit in a turmoil, finding his way in the world in a way.

We see in this book three people, with complete different backgrounds and lifestyles, but all at a crossroad in their lives. And in this book, we read how slowly they realize what they want now in their lives, how they slowly stand tall again and how they find their voice again. And that made me like this story, as reading it, is a journey you go through yourself, at the same time the characters do.