Don't you hate when your start writing a wonderful review and then you get distracted by your kid, then you don't get back in time before the screen refreshes. Well--that's what happened to my review for this book. Dammit. Well I will try and recreate it, but I'm sure it won't be as witty as it was the first time around.

Anyhow......

I received an advanced reader copy of this book from the publisher via Net Galley.

This is the ultimate love story. A story of a woman who falls in love with herself, and who she is meant to be.

Marianne decides she would rather take her life than spend another day with her husband. While they are on vacation in Paris, Marianne gets up and walks out the restaurant and heads to the Seine. In her manner of always thinking of others, she takes off her coat, shoes, jewelry, etc and stacks them neatly on a bench--in hopes that someone who can use them, will take them. She proceeds to throw herself into the Seine. Her attempt at suicide is thwarted when a homeless man jumps in and saves her.

While in the hospital, her penny-pinching grouch of a husband Lothar, shows up and tells her he is going home on his ticket, because other wise it would cost him more. He literally just leaves her there by herself in the hospital. It is there, as she is attempting to make her escape, that she sees a painted tile of the sea. It calls to her. She decides that this will be where she will go to finish off her attempt at death. On the back is written the towns name, Kerdruc.

On her way to Kerdruc, she meets a few different characters who each touch Marianne's soul in different ways. When she finally arrives, she is mistaken for the new help at a bistro and is given room and board. Everyday, she does down to the sea with the intention of ending her life, and everyday, she finds a reason not to, until the day, she goes down to the sea, just to be with the sea. She begins to live her life, truly. She discovers for the first time in her life, that she can have and do what she desires, she no longer swallows them down to please others, or do what is proper in others eyes.

It is here that she soars, becoming who she was really meant to be. She finally found her self, and was brave enough to live the life she deserved. Isn't that how we should all live. Not suppressing our desires for others wishes. To live our fullest, and help others do the same?

So why only 4 stars then, well, (1) the first part of the book was deeply somber. I almost quit. But knowing what Nina George can do with a story, I wanted to continue. (2) There was an unexplained supernatural addition to this book, that was never really explained. I feel, it could have been either left out all together, or explained.