This book broke my heart in so many different ways. Lidija writes in a way that brings you right into the characters' stories from the very beginning, brilliantly using beautiful figurative language while weaving the lost love story of Vlaho and Ivona. We go on a journey between the past and present where over the course of 20 years, we watch their love story bloom, grow, and devastatingly fade away as people come and go and life continues on. I loved so many things about this novel...the language, the setting of beautiful and complicated Croatia, the thought-provoking story. This would be an excellent book club pick.

a beautiful debut about love, family & life with characters that felt real, flawed and human. the cover drew me in to this story and i'm happy i read this.. so many quotes highlighted that really made me pause, think and feel for a second. will definitely be looking forward to lidija hilje's future works!

thank you so much netgalley and simon & schuster for the arc 🤍