Lizzy & Jane

Katherine Reay has a gift of being able to express people's emotions in words that really touch your heart. I thought that I was going to be reading a book about Jane Austen's characters but apart from the names there is really no comparison. This is a very emotional book. I found my heart hurting as I walked the journey of cancer with these two sisters. I found it very real. Beautifully written but it is one of those books that leave you emotionally wrecked for a while after you have read it.

Since one of the main characters has a life threatening illness and other minor characters die, one would expect a reference to life after death if a book is Christian. I cannot recall even one reference to it. God and praying are mentioned so I presume the religion is Therapeutic Deism - God is there to help us if we pray. But basically this life is all we've got so don' t get short changed. . . eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. Not so. Jesus talked at length about hell, rewards in heaven, seek First the kingdom of God and his righteousness etc. Listen to him! Jane Austen did not have a robust faith so her tales entertain but this one deals with a more serious subject and offers no hope.

Lizzy and Jane was different, in a good way. It had all the strong writing and characterisation of Dear Mr Knightley, with the added bonus of an original and compelling plot. Elizabeth has some deep-seated resentment towards Jane, who was never around while their mother was dying. While Elizabeth is in Seattle helping Jane face her health crisis, Elizabeth is also facing her own personal crisis, a crisis of identity and self-belief around her cooking. It's the one thing she's always excelled at, yet even that talent seems to be failing her. \\r\\n\\r\\nThere are touches of romance and an underlying Christian theme, but Lizzy and Jane is very much women's fiction, Lizzy's story of personal, professional (and spiritual) rediscovery. Recommended. \\r\\n\\r\\nThanks to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review

This tale of two sisters, somewhat estranged, is powerful, evocative, and moving. Lizzy struggles with abandonment and failure, Jane with bitterness, fear, and resentment. A brief visit to acknowledge Jane's battle with cancer results in an unwanted extended stay for Lizzy but it is this time that allows for healing and hope. I adore the intelligence of Katherine's writing - there is no simplistic, cookie cutter story here - there is complexity of character and language, enabling the reader to delve behind the words to the inherent, subtle meaning and emotions. The characters would be amongst the most real I have read - their ugly, pained, and joyous responses and feelings bleed from the pages, creating both empathy and connection with the reader. I could see myself in both Lizzy and Jane, glimpses of my husband in Peter and Nick. Friends and family through the eyes of minor characters. Then there's the food! Symbolic and aromatic, the references to food, it's healing properties, and the connection it brings in this story are beautiful and will have you reaching for your own cookbooks! Katherine touches on the intricacies of marriage, the tenderness and reluctance of new love, and the difficulties that complicate the bonds of sisterly love. Literary references pepper this story but uniquely, so there is no rinse and repeat of Dear Mr. Knightley, as fabulous as it was, which is testament to Katherine's exemplary talent and her desire to stretch both herself and her readers