Hearts On A String by Kris Radish

There’s a new book by one of my favourite authors. She wrote Anne Freeman’s Fabulous Traveling Funeral. I’ve talked about that book before, so I won’t bore you again.

Her new book hooked me right from the start. The prologue starts with a young girl going for a walk with her great-grandmother. I loved the line – “And then Nana holds the adorable girl’s hand there, over a heart that will very soon slow until it completes its wonderful circle of life.” (I’m very much into the circle of life). Her great-grandmother tells her about the string that connects all women. I loved the concept.

The story then begins with a string (unintentional pun) of profanities in the washroom of the Tampa, Florida airport terminal. One slight slip and Nan’s iPhone is about to be flushed from her life. What follows is the coming together of a group of strangers in an effort to rescue the phone from the watery bowels of the toilet. There’s Nan – a banker, Patti – a 63 year old singer, Cathy – a manager of a Wendy’s, who in fact knows Nan’s husband, Margo – the mother of 3 teenagers and Holly – a hairstylist.  After the initial toilet fiasco they find out all flights have been cancelled due to a spring storm heading across the U.S. Nan offers to take the group to her suite in a local hotel and they accept the invitation. Once there they discover that there’s a psychic convention going on at the hotel. What follows is like an episode of Survivor. Will they bond during the storm, or be ready to vote someone off the island. There were a few surprises that I didn’t see coming. In the end it’s not my favourite Kris Radish book, but I did enjoy it.