This was a sweet love story, 50 years in the making.
Every year for 49 years, Elizabeth Davenport has received a crocus (her favorite flower) and a written wish left on her doorstep by Tom Hale, the man she’s been in love with since she was 18, but couldn’t marry because of family pressure. This year, though, on the expected day, their 50th anniversary, the flower doesn’t arrive, so she decides to travel to London to find out what happened to Tom.
This book opened with a really interesting premise. The idea that these two people lived their lives for 50 years while still holding on to such strong feelings about each other was intriguing, especially since their initial relationship was actually pretty short. This almost feels like the story of Romeo and Juliet if they hadn’t killed themselves and had just lived their lives in the way their families wanted them to.
I really liked how this book alternated between the present and the past, so the reader could see the love story developing over time. I also liked the general love story, even though Elizabeth was very naïve and trusting when she shouldn’t have been. And, any book in this genre set in the UK is definitely going to go on my reading list.
But I really thought that the Elizabeth-Tom present day relationship was kind of strange… It seemed to skip over a lot of catching up steps. Maybe it’s more realistic that they skipped the hard stuff given the circumstances, but it seemed stilted. And while I liked the premise of trying to fulfill the 49 wishes from over the years, they went in and out of the story very quickly.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and The Book Club Girl with William Morrow in exchange for my honest review. It has not influenced my opinion.