Book
Pieces of happiness : a novel of friendship, hope and chocolate / Anne Ostby.
""I've planted my feet on Fijian earth and I intend to stay here until the last sunset. Why don't you join me? Leave behind everything that didn't work out!" When Sina, Maya, Ingrid, and Lisbeth each receive a letter in the mail posing the same question, the answer is obvious. Their old high school friend Kat--Kat the adventurer, Kat who ran away to the South Pacific as soon as they graduated--has extended the invitation of a lifetime: Come live with me on my cocoa farm in Fiji. Come spend the days eating chocolate and gabbing like teenagers once again, free from men, worries, and cold. Come grow old in paradise, together, as sisters. Who could say no? Now in their sixties, the friends have all but resigned themselves to the cards they've been dealt. There's Sina, a single mom with financial woes; gentle Maya who feels the world slipping away from her; Ingrid, the perennial loner; Lisbeth, a woman with a seemingly picture-perfect life; and then Kat, who is recently widowed. As they adjust to their new lives together, the friends are watched over by Ateca, Kat's longtime housekeeper, who oftentimes knows the women better than they know themselves and recognizes them for what they are: like "a necklace made of shells: from the same beach but all of them different." Surrounded by an azure-blue ocean, cocoa trees, and a local culture that is fascinatingly, joyfully alien, the friends find a new purpose in starting a business making chocolate: bittersweet, succulent pieces of happiness. A story of love, hope, and chocolate, PIECES OF HAPPINESS will reaffirm your faith in friendship, second chances, and the importance of indulging one's sweet tooth"-- Provided by publisher.
Record details
- ISBN: 0385542801
- ISBN: 9780385542807
- Physical Description: 299 pages ; 25 cm
- Publisher: New York : Doubleday, 2017.
- Copyright: ©2017.
Content descriptions
| General Note: | Translation of: Biter av lykke. "Originally published in Norway as Biter av lykke by Font Forlag, Oslo, in 2016."--Title page verso. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Older women > Fiji > Fiction. Female friendship > Fiction. Families > Fiction. Fiji > Fiction. |
| Genre: | Humorous fiction. |
Available copies
- 3 of 3 copies available at Sitka.
- 1 of 1 copy available at Kimberley Public Library. (Show preferred library)
Holds
- 0 current holds with 0 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kimberley Public Library | F OST (Text) | 35137001009165 | Adult Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
| Castlegar Public Library | FIC OST (Text) | 35146002068302 | Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
| Salt Spring Island Public Library | FIC OST (Text) | 33123009565210 | Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2017 August #1
The letter contained an audacious offer: leave Norway and come live with me in Fiji. After her husband died, Kat was left alone on their cocoa plantation in the South Pacific country. So she reached out to four high-school friends to see if they were ready to start a new chapter in their lives with her. In many ways, the group of women in their 60s could not be more different, from the mother constantly hounded by her middle-aged son for money to the dependable bookkeeper with a secret inner twin yearning to be set free. But both their old bonds and their new enterprise, a business creating delicious chocolate to send back home, bring them together in this profound novel. Ostby's luxurious descriptions of Fijian life and culture add a fragrant whiff of the tropics and provide an exotic background to the story, but the main attraction is witnessing these women grow in surprising ways as they are liberated from their old lives. Both bitter and sweet, this novel is a delightful read. Copyright 2017 Booklist Reviews. - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2017 June #2
A group of old friends wonder if they can pick up where they left off 40 years ago.When Kat mails letters to her high school friends inviting them to pack up their lives and move to Fiji, she isn't sure what to expect. While Kat has lived in countless locales around the world, her friends Sina, Lisbeth, Ingrid, and Maya have lived more conventional lives back in their native Norway. Still, they are all in their late 60s, at the point where they are willing to jump at the chance to try something new. That isn't to say that the other women have had it easyâthey have all dealt with more than their fair shares of anxiety regarding children and family life, financial woes, relationship troubles, and health concerns. Together, the women create a new future for themselves in Fiji, eventually converting Kat's cocoa plantation into a fledgling chocolate business. Late in the novel, Lisbeth wonders, "Is it possible to become who you were before?" Indeed, this is the very question that lingers as each woman attempts to either reclaim or refashion her identity across the world in her later years. Will Sina cut ties with her manipulative son, Armand, and finally force him to grow up? Will Lisbeth be able to shake her insecurities? Will Kat find the solace and companionship she was looking for when she extended this intense invitation to her distant friends? While the novel does an adequate job delving into the inner workings of the characters, its ambitious scope and its relatively short length are at odds. While some of the friends are fully fleshed out, others fall flat. Interspersed with the friends' perspectives are prayers from their housekeeper, Ateca, who worries about the womenâoften repeating details that have already been solidly establishedâand offers some back story on the Fijian natives. Ostby's U.S. debut offers up delectable food, a lush location, and unwavering friendships. Copyright Kirkus 2017 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved. - PW Annex Reviews : Publishers Weekly Annex Reviews
Ostby's compassionate and uplifting debut novel is an examination of the intricacies of friendship, the power of freedom, and the potential of inspiration. Kat, owner of a cocoa farm in Fiji, reconnects with her old high school girlfriends by offering them a tempting opportunity: leave their homes in Norway and live together in paradise. The thought of uprooting all they've ever known is daunting, but with minimal hesitation, Sina, Ingrid, Lisbeth, and Maya, all in their 60s, soon land on Fijian soil. Each has a defining problem: Sina has a parasitic son, Lisbeth is shackled to a not-so-idyllic marriage, Ingrid has always suppressed her adventurous spirit, Kat wrestles with the fact that the situation with her longtime partner is no longer sustainable, and Maya faces a progressive illness. But together, the friends bloom with confidence and are reinvigorated by the bonds of friendship and the prospect of a successful business endeavorâchocolate making. Finding strength and comfort in one another, the women rediscover the gift of friendship and the blessing of independence. The cast of rich and textured characters drives home the hopeful themes of love and companionship.
Copyright 2017 Publishers Weekly Annex.(Aug.)
