Flying Lessons by H. Lovely Bettison

Pages:  168

Genre:  Adult, Magical Realism

Source: Review copy from author

From Goodreads:

Henry and his daughter, Chandra, are stuck. Haunted by the past, they sleepwalk through life until unexpected relationships shake up their perceptions of reality. Henry’s new friendship with a neighbor blurs the boundaries between the living and the dead, and Chandra starts to see possibilities she’s never noticed before.

Recently retired, Henry finally has time to ponder his life and finds that it is full of regrets. After the death of his wife, he lost the spark that made his life worth living. Chandra's sense of adventure has been buried by her feelings of responsibility to her father. Life has become a chore influenced by her father's lack of motivation.

Chandra feels like she's going nowhere fast until she meets an eccentric pianist who helps her slow down and see the beauty in the simple things. Henry's friendship with a widowed neighbor who still talks of her husband as if he were alive makes his days bright again, but all of her talk of the dead starts playing tricks on his mind. He swears he can feel the increasing presence of his wife lingering in the house. Henry doesn't realize that Chandra feels it too.

Follow their frightening, but rewarding, journey of self-discovery as they rekindle the joy of living.

My Thoughts:

This is one of those feel good books.  Sixteen years ago Henry lost his wife Ava, the mother  to Chandra.  Since that time they  have been going through the motions of life.  For some reason they seem to be having difficulty moving on.  Then Chandra meets someone and her father starts  seeing the neighbor next door.  Both of them learn that it is possible to move on.  I guess what I had an issue with was that it seemed  to take them so long to move on.  I know in situations like this that not everyone reacts the same.  My brother-in-law is one of those like Henry.  He seems like a lost soul without my sister by his side.  His daughter has moved in with him to help take care of him.  This is similar to what happened to Chandra.  Both lives are on hold.  This is still a good story.  It is sometimes quirky which makes it fun to read.  I would recommend this for a nice weekend read when you want to sit back and relax.