Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Evvie Drake Starts Over

Cover image for Evvie Drake starts over : a novel
Evvie Drake Starts Over
by Linda Holmes
Ballantine Books, 2019, 293 pages, General Fiction

Ever since her husband died, Evvie Drake lives alone in an overly large house in small-town Maine. While everyone in town thinks an inconsolable grief is what has stalled her momentum, Evvie lets them think that while she weighs her options.

Dean Tenney, a former major-league pitcher who lives in New York, is also stalled in life. He’s got a case of the “yips,” which means he suddenly can’t throw straight anymore, and he can’t figure out why.

When Dean tries to get away from it all by renting Evvie’s mother-in-law apartment, he does so with the understanding that neither of them will ask about the other person’s problems. But the more Evvie and Dean get to know each other, the more they cross the boundaries they’d initially set up. As their friendship grows, Evvie and Dean encourage each other to face their fears and figure out what they really want in the next chapters of their lives.

Those who are familiar with Linda Holmes from the podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour will hear her signature sense of humor in every line of this book. I frequently found myself laughing aloud as I read this. While this is a great light read, I also appreciated that the characters in this book had real depth, and they can’t really be together until they’ve both figured out things on their own. Those who enjoy authors like Abbi Waxman, Taylor Jenkins Reid, and Rainbow Rowell will enjoy Evvie Drake Starts Over.

MB

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