Sunday, May 17, 2015

Book Review: The Canterbury Sisters by Kim Wright

cover59076-medium About the book:

Che Milan’s life is falling apart. Not only has her longtime lover abruptly dumped her, but her eccentric, demanding mother has recently died. When an urn of ashes arrives, along with a note reminding Che of a half-forgotten promise to take her mother to Canterbury, Che finds herself reluctantly undertaking a pilgrimage.

Within days she joins a group of women who are walking the sixty miles from London to the shrine of Becket in Canterbury Cathedral, reputed to be the site of miracles. In the best Chaucer tradition, the women swap stories as they walk, each vying to see who can best describe true love. Che, who is a perfectionist and workaholic, loses her cell phone at the first stop and is forced to slow down and really notice the world around her, perhaps for the first time in years.

Through her adventures along the trail, Che finds herself opening up to new possibilities in life and discovers that the miracles of Canterbury can take surprising forms.

This was a beautiful book. The writing was superb and the story was touching, funny and thought provoking.

I loved Che. I felt a deep connection to her. I understood her connection to her mother but also her frustration with her mother and some of the choices that she had made. I also loved all of the secondary characters, the rest of the “Canterbury Sisters” and I loved how they evolved throughout the book and how the author used the telling of stories of love to show each person’s character. 

This book is perfect for women-for daughters and for mothers-because I think that the mother-daughter relationship is probably one of the most difficult relationships to understand. I think most women will enjoy this book because at one time or another, we all have complicated relationships with our mothers. Wright did a fantastic job illustrating that complication.

I have no criticism of this book at all. It was so good and I will recommend it to anyone who will listen to me.

*I received a free book in exchange for my unbiased review.

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