4.5 stars

The Reunion is so much more than a story of old friends — Conor, Jen and Dan, Andrew and Lilah and Nat — coming together.

It’s about all the ways we think we love one another – freely, unconditionally, conditionally, out of guilt, with pity. It’s about memories that scar us, change us, move us forward, and hold us back. It’s about guilt, sorrow, forgiveness, and asking for forgiveness.

The Reunion shows how people find their way out of the past and into a new future while remaining part of the old group. Jen holds on to old love and loneliness. Andrew punishes himself for the past. Natalie represses anger. Dan burrows into his own little world. Lilah lives in denial. They all feel guilty and feel the haunt of Conor in the French house.

Death knocks several times on the door in this novel. But that’s what makes it so realistic- life demands death at some point or another. So the friends come to terms with the deaths within their group, and then they are able to allow the death of their guilt.

I was impressed with this novel despite the fact that it isn’t my usual cup of tea. The Reunion isn’t written chronologically. It throws the reader back and forth in time across the chapters and in excerpts of letters written between friends. The novel isn’t upbeat or light. Any romance is bittersweet at best. There’s even a sliver tainting the happily-ever-after.

And I loved it. I cried with real pain at the loss of life and love. I laughed with Lilah at her crazy antics. I sympathized with Jen — who I thought got the short end of the stick in every instance. I wanted to rescue Dan, and shoot Cupid’s arrow toward Nat and Andrew.

The Reunion is well-written, thoughtful and thought-provoking. It’s substantial enough for book club discussions and literary analysis. Its authenticity takes a crack at your emotions. It asks what we internally live with that needs riddance. It asks you to face your own truth. Most importantly, The Reunion asks you to love yourself and others without condition.

-Calliope

Buy It Now The Reunion (U.S.)
Buy It Now The Reunion (UK)