3.5 stars

I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Willow is having a bad time of it - her boyfriend dumps her, her mom dies and then she finds out she’s pregnant. While back in New Mexico sorting out her mom’s estate, Willow begins to think about her relationship with her mother while also figuring out what to do with the unexpected pregnancy and realising maybe the place she has been running away from for a long time is actually home after all.

This was a really nice, relaxing book to read and I’m really glad I picked it ip. I was immediately entranced by Willow’s past with her mother - from the way her mom response to her marriage breakdown by roasting marshmallows over a burning mattress to her dragging Willow off to the middle of nowhere for a fresh start. I loved how eccentric her mom was and how normal Willow just wanted to be. I did find some of Willow’s reactions to her mother a bit extreme from focusing on her mother’s alcoholism for ruining her childhood and making it sound like her mom was a mean, angry, abusive drunk (which she wasn’t but did seem to drink a bit too much) and then one point during the grape planting years when she had damaged hands and wanted to lie to a social services worker about her mom being abusive. I found that a bit strange.

Willow herself was an odd enough character and I definitely warmed to the people in her life such as her mom, Darrel and Darrel’s grandparents, rather than Willow herself. I kept forgetting she was 39 year olds as her life seemed so..unorganised for an almost middle-aged woman. She could hardly afford half her rent, seemed shaky in her job and didn’t have great relationships with men or even any close friends in LA and it kept making me think she was in her 20s rather than late 30s (which, apparently, in my mind means people need to have it figured out).

I loved the bits of Apache culture that were put into the book from Willow’s occasional use of the language and then her inclusion in the culture and tradition of the tribe and how she was included in events on the reservation growing up. I loved how this book focused on family and how sometimes family can be all around you without you noticing and that people who aren’t necessarily blood-related can also be as strong family members as those who are. I really enjoyed the ending of it and how Willow’s spirit really seemed to settle and her new affinity with her land and her plans for the future that also included her cello dreams, just slightly new ones. I also liked how Willow’s romance with Mark was hinted at with the clear attraction and spark between the two but nothing was really pushed and/or became inappropriate considering she was newly pregnant with her ex.

Overall, really enjoyed this book. It was a comforting read and I definitely recommend it.