She's Up to No Good Published by Lake Union Publishing by Sara Goodman Confino
on August 1, 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Humor, Romance, Women's Fiction, Chick-Lit
Pages: 395
Source: Netgalley
Format: ARC, eBook
Find the Author: Website, Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Instagram
Find the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
Rating:
For two women generations apart, going home will change their lives in this funny, poignant, and life-affirming novel about family, secrets, and broken hearts by the author of For the Love of Friends.
Four years into her marriage, Jenna is blindsided when her husband asks for a divorce. With time on her hands and her life in flux, she agrees to accompany her eccentric grandmother Evelyn on a road trip to the seaside Massachusetts town where much of their family history was shaped.
When they hit the road, Evelyn spins the tale of the star-crossed teenage romance that captured her heart more than seventy years ago and changed the course of her life. She insists the return to her hometown isn’t about that at all—no matter how much she talks about Tony, her unforgettable and forbidden first love.
Upon arrival, Jenna meets Tony’s attentive great-nephew Joe. The new friendship and fresh ocean air give her the confidence and distance she needs to begin putting the pain of a broken marriage behind her.
As the secrets and truths of Evelyn’s past unfold, Jenna discovers a new side of her grandmother, and of herself, that she never knew existed—and learns that the possibilities for healing can come at the most unexpected times in a woman’s life.
A story both hilarious and heartbreaking, She’s Up to No Good was pretty much everything I could want in a great book.
Told in dual timelines, this book features Evelyn back in the 1950s and in the present, with her granddaughter, Jenna. Sometimes dual timelines are difficult for me because I find myself preferring one over the other. In fact, that happens most of the time. That wasn’t the case here.
In the 1950s, we get Evelyn as a very young woman, falling in love with a man who isn’t Jewish. And with WWII and the extermination of millions of Jews, fresh in the mind of Evelyn’s family–there’s no way her parents will ever approve of her marriage. Evelyn and her Portuguese beau, Tony, have the star-crossed relationship that will bring tears to your eyes.
In the present, Evelyn decidedly takes a trip back to her old home–accompanied by her in-the-middle-of-a-divorce, granddaughter. The absolute best parts of this book were the scenes between Jenna and Evelyn. Evelyn, who is a quirky old lady with absolutely no filter brings out the best in these scenes. Jenna, a little more subdued doesn’t always know quite what to say or do with her grandmother.
This novel carried me around on both waves of tears and laughter as Evelyn shares her story with a heartbroken Jenna. And through that story, and the trip, Jenna finds herself–and perhaps her own new love.
This book was such a wonderful surprise and an amazing treat… One that I will probably find myself revisiting in the future. I quite simply find myself missing Evelyn, Jenna, and their entire family.
About Sara Goodman Confino
Sara Goodman Confino teaches high school English and journalism in Montgomery County, Maryland, where she lives with her husband, two sons, and miniature schnauzer, Sandy. When she’s not writing or working out, she can be found on the beach or at a Springsteen show, sometimes even dancing on stage.
