I never exactly found my reading flow with this book. I read it choppily and It felt slow to get into and I kept expecting that I was going to learn more about all of these characters but in the end, it's only Lara we come to know... and not until the end of the book. Even though it was slow, that felt like the point.

The present day was set in the pandemic and it took me back to how slow those days were. There wasn't a whole lot to do but tell stories and it was the first book I've ever read that describes what just existing during the pandemic felt like. It was the the first book I've ever read about the pandemic, as a thing of the past, period.

But the book wasn't about the pandemic. It was about reflecting on life and connecting all of the dots looking backward. And Patchett did that really well through Lara. Lara reflected and I understood completely how she drew conclusions about her life from her past, as if she were a real person with a lifetime of memories. Small details here, new discoveries alluded to there. In the end, it all made sense and it all felt incredibly content.