Close to Destiny

This book counts for the following Reading Challenges

MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS BOOK

I had the pleasure of working with Adria J. Cimino some time ago to organize a virtual book tour for her first novel, Paris, Rue des Martyrs.
Today, Adria comes back with her second novel, Close to Destiny, this time taking place in New York and London. But it is also about strangers you meet in the city. It is written with the same very nice style, with a twist!

Katherine (Kat) has had a tough life: she is just trying to recover from depression, anorexia, and trying to find some taste to life after her failure to quit it to early.  She is into art and has also experience in article writing for magazines.
But things are suddenly taking on a strange turn during her stay in London: one day, as she tries hats on, a stranger buys one for her. During the following night in her hotel, a naked woman comes at her door! With some elements somewhat reminiscent of the movie Midnight in Paris, that strange woman will introduce Kat to weirder and weirder characters. The problem is, they all seem to have some type of connection with her. But what connection really? And if she knew at least where and how she meets them: she is not even sure if she meets them in her dreams, in hallucinations, or what? What exactly is this strange place? How does she even get there?

Was I normal? And who defined “normal” anyway?

When Kat slowly starts to have an idea what might be happening, she has to make a choice between forgetting all about it or embrace it, however crazy this all still seems to her, as it may actually bring her healing.

I really like how Adria works with her characters and their relationships, in the context of our modern cities.
In her previous books, she chose people “at random” living in the same street and led her readers to discover how they were connected. This time the connections are no longer linear, and they are obscure even to the narrator herself.
Extra layers are added to the story by the mere name of one of the main characters: Destiny!
As a lover of Murakami’s books, I enjoyed a lot also the blurred lines between reality and pseudo-reality or dreams, between present and past, between normality and strangeness. Besides, the book presents an interesting idea that depression could be connected to some forgotten past…

The end of the book, around a bench, is the perfect ending, even though this is not a Parisian bench! You really never know whom you might meet on a bench. Pay attention next time you do so. And oh, watch out when you buy a hat!

VERDICT: A hat may have more to it than it looks! Evolving in between the blurred lines of reality and past experiences, Cimino focuses on relationships between people. Rich literary fiction with a twist.

Adria J. Cimino is the author of “Paris, Rue des Martyrs,”
a novel about four strangers whose lives entwine in a Parisian neighborhood.
Adria lives in Paris and enjoys sharing her adventures in the city
and thoughts about the writing life in her blog “Adria in Paris.”
http://adriainparis.blogspot.com/

Previously, she worked as a journalist for more than a decade
at news organizations including the Associated Press and Bloomberg News.
Adria, who grew up in the sunshine,
holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of South Florida.

Website | Blog  | Pinterest | Facebook | Twitter @Adria_in_Paris

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HAVE YOU READ THIS BOOK YET?
What’s your latest favorite book
with some time travel dimension?
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