My Goodbye Girl, Anna Gomez, author
If truth be told, this novel is not my usual genre, as it falls into the category of what I used to refer to as chick lit. It is a romance novel that I thought might be better suited to young adults and not a general audience. However, what started out, as what I thought would be a frivolous “trip down the light fantastic”, became a wonderful “affair to remember”.
This book will actually stay with me for a long time, and so will some of the character’s love stories. Could this novel live in the real world? Yes, it could! The authenticity of the human emotions, the pain and suffering, the joy and ecstasy illustrated, as the many different challenges of life that humans are heir to were featured, made it a real keeper.
The main characters endeared themselves to me and will to all readers, I expect. Tessa, at first, seemed a bit selfish and flighty, with no real concerns for anyone, or much of anything, except for what was happening to her, in the moment. She, in her early twenties, living a life full and rich with the excitement of success and a bright future, as an up-and-coming romance author, only wanted to live in the present. She did not want to make any lasting attachments. When the readers learn why, as they witness the trauma in her past that made her want to live haphazardly, and not get too attached to anything on a permanent basis, they begin to understand her more. They witness her alter the trajectory of her life, as life happens to her, and she is forced to begin to rethink her path forward. The opinion of Tessa will fluctuate and change as she does.
Tessa’s best friend Riley was a happy-go-lucky soul, a bit more grounded, and in a more serious relationship with Tessa’s older brother, Jacob. She wanted to be more structured and disciplined. Tessa and Jacob were very close siblings because circumstances had forced them to be on their own. They only had each other. Their parents had died unexpectedly and very prematurely. Jake was the be-all and end-all in Tessa’s life. She did not desire anything more out of life as a constant, than her brother Jake and her friend Riley. So, Tessa seemed really happy with how she had designed her life. She had been in her teens when her parents died, and after therapy, she had created her own flamboyant approach to her future. Everything seemed to be working out perfectly for Tessa until the day she sat in seat 7C on a plane flight, and she very casually met the handsome man sitting in seat 7D.
Simon Fremont was a brilliant and very grounded scientist who organized his life completely, the opposite of Tessa’s approach. He was sitting in seat 7D. Unlike Tessa in almost every way, he was nevertheless, struck by her beauty. If Tessa was changing her clothes, her discarded clothes would be on the floor where she was changing, Simon’s clothes, on the other hand, would be in a folded and neat pile on a chair. He would have his schedule organized to the point of having every “I” dotted and every “t” crossed. There would be no loose ends. Tessa would have no dotted “i’s” in her life. She preferred to wing it.
Success had come to Simon, too, very early like with Tessa, but there was a horse fly in his ointment. He had very real health problems that kept him on his toes and wary of certain behavior. He, like Tessa, was close to his brother, his twin brother, but the pattern and path of his organized life would change when he sat in seat 7D. Just as Tessa was suddenly smitten with feelings, she didn’t know she could have, Simon was smitten with Tessa, with her quick wit and clever conversation. He had never met such a cavalier, bon vivant, and it didn’t hurt that she was beautiful.
So, the reader will watch a seeming flibbertigibbet, kind of wild, never having two feet firmly planted on the ground kind of young woman, just starting out on a successful life, develop into another kind of woman altogether. Will this twenty-something become thoughtful and caring and want a balanced and settled life, or will she still want to bounce around aimlessly? Her metamorphosis will not come easy to her, but she will either face and conquer her demons, in spite of the most tragic of circumstances that befall her, or she will not find total happiness and fulfillment. She might believe she is able to handle anything life can dish out, and never look back in anger, but after sitting in seat 7C, next to the handsome stranger in seat 7D, her entire approach to life and people may be disrupted.
The days and months following that plane flight are fraught with challenges and difficult decisions. Will Tessa be up to the task as she fights with her emotions and her past so she can grow into a more complete and fully aware person? Her desire to be completely independent and not tied down competes with her desire to see this man again, and again, and again. Flying in the face of her three-date rule, so she never becomes overly attached to anyone, she keeps making arrangements to rendezvous with Simon in the different parts of the world that her tour is taking her. How will Simon deal with this lack of structure and definite plans? Will he be up to it, or will he give up on her?
Although she had believed that her life was full with her success as an author, with her brother Jacob and his girlfriend who was her best friend, Riley, Tessa suddenly feels an utter, magnetic attraction to the stranger on the plane, and the earth beneath her feet begins to move by itself! Her first novel had been such a complete success that she had an agent and an intense tour schedule to contend with, but when Simon entered her life, she wanted to throw caution to the wind and see him whenever she could, without worrying about her schedule or her agent. Although she tried to remain aloof, it seems that Simon and Tessa may simply be destined to be together. At first it was, very simply, Kismet; but then again, maybe it was not. The roller coaster of emotions will slam into the reader too, just as it does into Tessa and Simon. Readers may find their eyes are wet without warning, and they may find themselves fearful and hopeful, in equal measure.
The characters have depth, and the themes have far more meaning than I expected. Devotion and loyalty were front and center as each character grappled with what life presented to them. I found myself thinking about the many trials life presents that real people have to deal with, trials we neither choose or can reject. The same is true for the characters in this book. They have no choice but to deal with the cards life gives them. How do they do?