I've read all of Amy E. Reichert's books, and The Optimist's Guide to Letting Go is the best. Here's why:
It's been two years since Milwaukee-based, glass-half-full Gina Zoberski's husband Drew passed away. Despite her still-broken heart, Gina soldiers on, raising her handful of a teenage daughter and avoiding her withholding mother, all while serving up sandwiches with a smile from her food truck, Grilled G's. But when Gina's mother suffers a stroke, she's forced to let her into her life and face some truths about her own.
What makes this book work, at least for me, is the way Reichert gets inside both Gina's and her mother's heads. She convincingly voices two very different women while at the same time showing how they're the same. The result is a memorable mother-daughter story, mixed with bittersweet romance and, of course, lots of dairy.
With heart as well as insight into Milwaukee foodie culture, The Optimist's Guide to Letting Go is comfort food for the spirit.
