Blurb: One Day meets Groundhog Day, in this heartwarming and emotionally poignant novel about a stressed woman who must relive the same day over and over, keeping her family and work life from imploding as she attempts to spare her husband from an unfortunate fate.
It is an ordinary Monday and harried London literary agent Emma is flying out of the door as usual. Preoccupied with work and her ever growing to-do list, she fails to notice her lovely husband Dan seems bereft, her son can barely meet her eye, and her daughter won't go near her. Even the dog seems sad.
She is far too busy, buried deep in her phone; social media alerts pinging; clients messaging with "emergencies"; keeping track of a dozen WhatsApp groups about the kids' sports, school, playdates, all of it. Her whole day is frantic—what else is new—and as she rushes back through the door for dinner, Dan is still upset. They fight, and he walks out, desolate, dragging their poor dog around the block. Just as she realizes it is their anniversary and she has forgotten, again, she hears the screech of brakes.
Dan is dead.
The next day Emma wakes up… and Dan is alive. And it's Monday again.
And again.
And again.
Emma tries desperately to change the course of fate by doing different things each time she wakes up: leaving WhatsApp, telling her boss where to get off, writing to Dan, listening to her kids, reaching out to forgotten friends, getting drunk and buying out Prada. But will Emma have the chance to find herself again, remember what she likes about her job, reconnect with her children, love her husband? Will this be enough to change the fate they seem destined for?
A moving "What if" story of what it is to be a woman in the modern world—never feeling we're getting it quite right—about learning to slow down and appreciate life that is sure to resonate with women's fiction readers.
Review: I want to start by saying I'm pleased to be sharing this review on publication day. Maybe Next Time is a truly gorgeous story that simply made me ugly cry. Thankfully I finished reading this beautiful tale in the comfort of my own bed. I read many a passage on a bus or train so that could have been embarrassing to say the least.
Emma and Dan are couple goals BUT that does not mean life is easy and that they are perfect. Far from it. Their story is beautiful, heartbreaking and heartwarming. It was just what I needed to get a bit of perspective on life. The Groundhog Day troupe is a new one that's come up a bit but what Cesca has done is add a gorgeous spin. Not only does Emma go through her same Monday for what seems like an eternity. It's a Dateaversy for her and Dan and a tradition they have always had is to write letters to each other.
This aspect filled my heart although the letters weren't always what you expected them to be. I loved the rawness from them both but what spoke to me in volumes was the love.
Emma can't imagine life without Dan until that becomes a potential reality. I absolutely loved the being in the moment and creating memories. Emma will make you laugh out loud with some of the things she gets up to. But she will also have you crying like a baby. There's so much I want to say and so much I cannot say. What I will say is Emma and Dan taught me to be in the moment more. Even when you're sad there are always snippets of lovely and I've needed that more than most right now. We all have troubles that's what life is all about but it's how we handle them that matter.
A gorgeous Groundhog Day novel that will pick you up and spit you out in the greatest of ways. So many supporting characters that deserve a mention but I don't want to give too much away. This story has made me question aspects of my life in the best way and to honour publication day, I am only looking at the good and what I can change and not what I cannot.
Cesca you have floored me once again and given me a book boyfriend and couple goals in one hit. You'll forever be a go to author for me, this baby is special.
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