I had really high hopes for this story of a woman who tries to escape her life and travels all the way from Sweden to Iowa, only to find her host has passed away. It sounded like the perfect palate cleanser after some somber February reading. Alas, it was so contrived and unsurprising. I could sense the author's attempt at a sweet story of an outsider that happens upon a town full of 'wacky' rural characters, yet there was no real depth to any of them.

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