The Lemonade Year by author Amy Willoughby-Burle is a story about family, love, loss and new beginnings. Nina, the main character is a photographer for a food publication. Her current assignment is to photograph 32 ways to make lemonade. As Nina is dealing with serious real-life issues in her home and extended family, she has to make choices.
Nina is still grieving the loss of a baby, she is at the ending of her marriage to Jack, she is at a loss of how to deal with her teenage daughter Cassie, and she is in the midst of a funeral for her father. How much can a person take all at once? Oh yes, and her publisher may be selling out to another company, she could lose her job, too. Read further and you will be able to sympathize with Nina and her family as they each have personal problems and obstacles to overcome.
Nina's mother had been dependant on alcohol years in the past and then she became consumed in caregiving after Lola's horrific injury. This left Nina and her brother Jack to wade through their teenage years with their father as their main source of support. As you read you can feel that Nina has bitterness in her heart for her mother. I think this carried over into Nina's married life with Jack. Especially after the loss of the baby boy at her nineteenth week of pregnancy. Nina cannot easily accept the fact that she will not have more children. As so often happens in families experiencing the loss of a baby, the remaining child will feel as if they are not enough. Nina imagines and believes the worst about the distance in her relationship with Jack.
There is a scene in the cemetery of Nina and her mother that made my heart hurt for both of them! Have I hooked your interest? I hope so because this story is about finding the truth ...not just Nina's personal truth, but each truth for each person in her family. When Nina realizes and accepts responsibility for looking at the truth of each person, she can let go of never feeling content or happy in the moment.
When it seems your life has given you only lemons, and no sugar to sweeten the choices, grab some strawberries and add to the mix, look again with a different perspective. Enjoy!
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Below Art Photography and Images by Diane Lochala-All Rights Reserved
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