When sisters Addie and Susanna receive invitations to a memorial for their Aunt Gayle, they’re heartbroken to learn the woman who raised them has passed away. But arriving on Anchor Island, they’re met with the shock of their lives: Gayle is alive and well, busily preparing her own ‘Celebration of Life’ at her beloved pudding bar, The Sweet Life Café.
Agreeing to stay for the event, the sisters begin sorting through their late father’s belongings, reopening wounds they thought long buried, and forcing them to reflect on their lives since leaving the island. Addie is struggling as a single mother, torn between love for her son and doubts about the life she can give him. Susanna’s marriage is crumbling, and being back on the island only reminds her why she couldn’t wait to escape.
But as Gayle prepares gooey brownies, steaming lattes and delicious cakes for her customers, and for her big event, she is hiding secrets of her own – including one that could change everything the sisters thought they knew about their family…
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My Review
This is a warm, emotionally layered story about family, forgiveness, and second chances. Rolfe draws readers in with a compelling premise built on missed conversations, buried truths, and the quiet damage caused when people stop truly listening to one another.
After the death of their father, sisters Addie and Susanna were sent to live with their unfamiliar Aunt Gayle on Anchor Island — a move that shaped their lives in ways they never fully understood. Years later, an invitation to Aunt Gayle’s funeral brings them back, only to discover she is very much alive. Her “living funeral,” planned so she could reunite with them before it was too late, sets the stage for reflection, healing, and long-overdue honesty.
As the sisters explore the island and uncover long-hidden secrets in their father’s belongings, memories resurface and perspectives shift. The novel gently explores how time, distance, and silence can fracture relationships, and how courage and compassion can slowly mend them.
With heartfelt twists, tender moments, and meaningful choices, this is a touching reminder that it’s never too late to choose connection — and to reshape the future.
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