Today's selection will be my first adventure into a book by Leesa Cross-Smith, and for awhile it felt like This Close to Okay was everywhere I looked. Readers and critics have certainly been excited about it, despite its sensitive subject matter, and I could not help but be excited as well.
The Situation: It is a rainy October night when recently-divorced therapist Tallie Clark spots a man making his way over the railing of a bridge. Tallie knows what it looks like when someone is about to take their life, so she stops the car, opens the door, and tells him he doesn't have to do this. And it works. This begins what will end up being an intense and emotional weekend with Emmett. Tallie knows nothing about this man, other than that he is clearly in a desperate place. And to be fair, Emmett knows nothing about Tallie, except that she cares maybe a little too much, has a cozy house, two sweet cats, and was recently divorced. Tallie will convince herself that it is not necessarily unethical to not tell Emmett she is a therapist, since he is not actually a client. And Emmett tells himself that it is fine to not tell her his whole story, including what would make him want to jump from a bridge, and why he still intends on doing so.
The Problem: Starting on Thursday night, Tallie and Emmett will slowly (or maybe quickly, depending on how you choose to look at it) get to know each other, despite all of the mystery and secrets. Tallie mostly holds back only on what she feels is necessary, even going so far as to talk about her divorce and how she still Facebook stalks her ex-husband. Emmett will use some of that information to do his own snooping, believing he is only helping Tallie as she helps him. And Tallie does not stop at inviting him to her home and telling her story. She also invites Emmett to her brother's annual Halloween party, going through the trouble of picking out a costume they can wear together, and introduces him to pretty much her entire family. It is a little weird how more than one person seems to think they recognize him from somewhere, especially when Tallie has Googled him and found nothing, and he is insistent on remaining a closed book. Overall, the weekend is a comforting, nice change. Then someone does recognize Emmett. And the truth changes everything.
Genre, Themes, History: This is a fiction book set mostly in and around modern-day Louisville, with the opening scene taking place on a bridge over the Ohio River. Also, in the book, the Halloween holiday is on a Saturday, and it is mentioned that it is the end of Daylight Savings, which would mean that the year is probably 2020. In alternating chapters, Tallie and Emmett tell their story, eventually revealing themselves to each other. Tallie is certainly the more open of the two, as Emmett manages to remain a mystery to almost everybody until near the end, including the reader. The book moves at a fairly leisurely pace, even though the majority of the action takes place from Thursday night to Sunday night, giving everything a sense of slow urgency. Though many issues are discussed (mental health, loss, grief, coping, etc.), it is never quite forgotten that Emmett was a man who was once intent on taking his own life, and he and Tallie do not actually know each other that well.
My Verdict: While reading this book at a coffee shop, I was asked if it was a romance, and I assured the person that it was not. It was a fair enough question, even though the cover (which I love by the way) is not the typical romance cover. And while there are certainly romance elements, I found myself saying that the book was more about mental health and grief than anything else. Obviously, something happened that made Emmett want to jump off of a bridge. And also, there is something that made Tallie believe that offering this same person her couch to sleep on for a couple of nights was a good idea. I feel like Cross-Smith is holding up two very different people who both need healing...and one of them is even a licensed therapist, proving that no one is exempt from needing help sometimes. Add in the peaceful pace, warm imagery, and the scenes centered around food, and this is somehow a comforting novel involving intense and heartbreaking issues.
Favorite Moment: There is something about the scenes where Emmett cooks. I also love to cook, so it does not take much for me to enjoy a cooking imagery in a book, but the word choice when describing Emmett's process was perfect.
Favorite Character: Despite his issues, and despite him not being completely honest about what is going on, I like Emmett a lot. It helps that we already knew he had problems, so what came later may have been surprising, but it answered questions more than anything else.
Recommended Reading: I recommend Anxious People by Fredrik Backman, which has a much more comedic tone that this book.
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