Christine and Johann are looking
forward to a restful vacation. They've been lovers for a year, but
theirs is a long distance relationship. They're looking forward to
two weeks together, even if they spend it close to Christine's
family. She nervously hopes the proximity won't be a problem.
The first person they meet when they
reach Sylt is a woman who looks like Christine's Aunt Inge. This
woman, wearing a red hat and without Uncle Walter, can't possibly be
Aunt Inge, but it is. Christine and her father Heinz are concerned.
Inge wants to change her life. Does this mean leaving Walter. Their
attempts to find out go awry in amusing ways.
Johann councils Christine to let her
Aunt work things out. If Inge wants to change, let her. But Christine
is afraid of change, so afraid that she tries to maintain the status
quo in her own relationship. As the vacation progress, the characters
become more rooted in their assumptions and more concerned about
change: who's doing it and why.
I enjoyed this book. The characters are
fun. They go about trying to solve their problems in clumsy ways, but
it's all rather endearing. Christine keeps jumping to wrong
conclusions about herself and her aunt, but Johann remains calm and
steadies her. He is a wonderful, if unbelievable, character. He just
calmly lets her pursue her misconceptions and only becomes distressed
when she doesn't want to talk about taking their relationship to the
next level.
The setting is marvelous. I wanted to
go to Sylt and enjoy the views of the ocean, little shops, beaches,
and restaurants. If you like a light, amusing novel with a serious
theme, you'll enjoy this one.
I reviewed this book for the Amazon Vine Program.
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