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Title: The Two Lives of Lydia Bird
Author: Josie Silver
Genre: Women’s fiction with romantic arc
Content Warnings: death of a partner, miscarriage, childbirth on page (baby is preemie but doesn’t experience complications)
So I wish I had known a little more about this book before I dived in at this particular period in time. I really enjoyed Josie’s first book and her writing is stellar so I immediately selected this one for my Book of the Month choice without really seeing what it was about. Now is probably not the best time to be reading about death of a partner, given the state of the world, but even with the trauma, I still enjoyed the book.
Lydia Bird is completely devastated when her fiance Freddie is killed in a car accident while driving home to pick her up for her birthday dinner. His best friend Jonah was in the car with him and somehow survived with merely a scratch. Because Freddie detoured to pick up Jonah before coming home, Lydia blames him for Freddie’s death. As Lydia struggles to deal with her grief, she seeks therapy and is given sleeping pills to help her get through the night. These sleeping pills are a new drug targeted for those experiencing grief, and every time Lydia takes one, she dreams of her life as it would have been if Freddie had never died. The dates and times sync up perfectly, it’s as if she gets to live in the alternate timeline of what would have happened if he hadn’t been killed. Through these dreams, Lydia gets to live out her bachelorette party, her wedding, her honeymoon, things she is desperately missing in her waking life. Lydia starts to struggle with her two opposite worlds and managing her grief. As she goes through it, she starts to open up more to Jonah, who along with being Freddie’s best friend, has known Lydia since childhood. The two explore their complicated feelings for each other as they both move on from Freddie’s death. There is a happy ending for all involved for those who worry about that kind of thing (like me).
This story is beautifully told, plain and simple. It really tackles the issue of grief and how we process our feelings and it’s told in a way that’s both relatable and heart-wrenching. The relationships Lydia has with her mom and sister are also extremely realistic and emotional. It’s an interesting concept for a novel, and I really liked how Lydia got to see her alternate life play out–for better or for worse. So if you think you can handle a tough storyline in these trying times, this one is gorgeously done.
However, it was tough for me to read because I couldn’t help but put myself in Lydia’s shoes, and how I would feel were I to lose my spouse. Though neither of us are are at any kind of particular risk, with the state of the world, it’s easy to think worst case scenario these days. But that certainly doesn’t take anything away from the story itself, just a warning to maybe hold onto this one if you’re feeling particularly fragile at this point in time.
Overall Rating: 4.5 stars