Book Review: "The Two Lives of Lydia Bird" by Josie Silver

Gotta love a book that has you sobbing in the wee hours of the morning!! Such was the case with Josie Silver's new book, The Two Lives of Lydia Silver.

Life can change in a split second. One second Lydia was waiting for her fiancé, Freddie, to arrive at her birthday dinner; the next second she learns that he was killed in a car accident on the way.

"It's probably for the best if the last time you do something momentous passes you by unheralded: the last time my mother collected me at the school gate, her hand reassuring around my smaller one, the last time my father remembered my birthday. The last time I spoke to Freddie Hunter as he dashed back to see me on my twenty-eighth birthday. Do you know what the last words he said to me were? Over and out."

Lydia and Freddie have been a part of each other’s lives since high school, and she has loved him since she was 14. She doesn’t know how to get through a day, let alone the rest of her life without him, but her family and friends try to help her navigate her grief.

One day she discovers a world where Freddie is still alive, and there, her life goes on from that fatal night. She cherishes every additional moment with Freddie and gets to envision picking out her wedding dress, the simple moments of sharing a life together. Little by little, though, she begins to see that even the fairytale life she's witnessing has its rough spots in unexpected places.

As she takes tentative steps to regain control of her life, she has to decide: live for what could have been despite its challenges, or live for now, and be present for those who love you. It’s a difficult decision for Lydia to make.

"There isn't a handy grief blueprint. You don't get over losing someone you love in six months or two years or twenty, but you do have to find a way to carry on living without feeling as if everything that comes afterward is second best."

Sure, the premise of the book is a little unrealistic, but I just found it so moving and beautifully told. I didn’t always love Lydia’s character but I just loved this story, and I so enjoy the way Josie Silver writes, having been totally besotted with her debut novel, One Day in December.