Healing others is their calling, but what happens if they can’t fix themselves?
Health and wellbeing brought Olive, Elsie and Bree together. After five years, their bustling wellness centre is demanding expansion. A beautiful federation house nestled among the picturesque backdrop of their small town is the perfect place to grow their business. But they don’t count on their personal lives getting in the way.
Practical and pragmatic, Olive keeps her past hidden from her friends. But when an old high-school flame shows up, the secrets she’s worked so hard to bury threaten to tear her carefully constructed world apart.
Bree is the fun-loving one, although family tensions lurk behind her free-spirited facade. The reappearance of her troubled sister Winnie brings Bree’s priorities into sharp focus. Will she have to shelve her own happiness to save her sister?
Kind and maternal to all those around her, Elsie’s role as the practice’s counsellor comes naturally. But when tragedy strikes, her world tumbles down like a house of cards.
With everything they’ve built in disarray, their friendship is on the line…
Kaneana May’s debut was The One, a highly entertaining read set against the backdrop of a Bachelor-style TV show. Kaneana worked in television for years and exposed the absurdity of these reality shows without stooping to ridicule. Popular with our readers, I was really looking forward to seeing what she delivered next.
While I enjoyed The One, I absolutely loved All We Have is Now. This time, the setting is a wellness retreat, and once again, May delivers the humour and quirks of that world and the characters in it without ever mocking it. Well plotted and fast paced, it’s a real page-turner but also has a lot of depth.
All We Have is Now is a richly nuanced and empathetic examination of life, loss and courage. The story switches perspectives between Bree, Elsie and Olive, who are all incredibly compelling in their own ways. So much is weaved into this book; themes around motherhood, friendship, addiction, grief and so much more. May went on a deep dive into the very heart of good storytelling. She has nailed that dreaded second novel and gone from ‘author to watch’ to ‘author I love’. All We Have is Now is wonderful.
I laughed, I cried (like, really cried) and I loved it.
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