You Can Thank Me Later: A Novella
By: Kelly Harms / Narrated By: Lauren Fortgang
Length: 3 hrs and 5 mins
I stuck this one out, so Huzzah for Meeeeeeee!!!
Seriously, going into You Can Thank Me Later I had tears spilling from my eyes and a most definite lump in my throat. Sophie is owner of The Little Plum, a nice little fine dining establishment. But more importantly, she’s the youngest of the Dickenson clan, with older brothers Pete and Charlie and their significant others coming over to celebrate Thanksgiving each year. When the story opens, it’s WHAM! A couple of voicemail recordings, and the last one is Charlie’s wife, Sophie’s very very best friend, leaving one that was so loving and touching it was OMINous. Sure enough, after dinner, whenst all are crashed and watching a movie, Sophie listens to Annette tell her that the cancer is back, and she’s pretty much done for.
Weeping was I? Oh sure, yessss, most definitely. A tearjerker of a story already as Sophie feels the devastation then holds Annette as she sobs into Sophie’s shoulder. A baby is born (Pete and his wife Keiko), and Annette barely lives to see it, but the rest of the audiobook is sans Annette, and all trying to get on with life.
But, now see, that’s where things get all unfortunate. Cuz Annette told Sophie to look after Charlie, see that he doesn’t spend the rest of his life brokenhearted and grieving. And so he doesn’t.
It takes Charlie TWO yeeeeears before he finds someone. And rather than be happy for him, Sophie turns into an Uber wench! Most of what follows in the audiobook is of Sophie screeching about how Charlie is not doing what Annette would’ve wanted him to do, of how this new Emily is just totally NOT Annette, blah blah blah.
The chick reeeeeally needs an Al-Anon meeting cuz she does NOT know when to walk her side of the street. So, yes, she does come up with some fascinating and tasty sounding food/recipes, but no, I was too busy wanting to throttle her to even think about how decent author Kelly Harms’s foodie decisions went over. Add to it that Sophie’s life is a total mess, and I was really frustrated by how she wasn't dealing with her own grief, and she kept projecting her misery onto those she supposedly loves but obviously does NOT respect. And she says some really really ugly things to Charlie, and we the listeners spend precious minutes after precious minutes of this very short audiobook hearing sentence after sentence about how angry and disgusted and how very right she is. It made me think of earlier relationships in my own life where someone cast their anger and judgment on me, and that I tell you is CERtainly no way I wish to be entertained.
This novella coulda/shoulda been a short story with AAAALLL the seething and animosity thrown out or cut in half. Cuz as it was? Jiminy H. Cricket, I wanted to claw Sophie’s eyes out. Enough with the judgments! (Wait… enough with MY animosity so I’ll go to:…)
I’ll go to this, shall I? The very last part of the audiobook made my eyes puddle up again because FINALLY Sophie realizes things, ugly ugly UGLY things, about herself and in how she’s been trying to make Charlie live. And Charlie tells her a few things about Annette and about how maybe the sainted woman had a few inklings of just who Charlie might grow into becoming. Throw in a kitchen fire, a soused and abusive ex, a sexy cop who might be willing to overlook a past slight, and I was back into feeling that ol’ lump in my throat yet again. So PHEW! Harms had her characters grow into a worthy, worthwhile, ending.
I’m used to narrator Lauren Fortgang doing some nonfiction, self-development audiobooks, and I’ve always felt a tad unenchanted with those performances. She kinda has come across as just a weeee bit too enthusiastic and chipper, and that’s NEVER good in a self-development attempt. Who wants to change themselves from listening to an overenthusiastic chipmunk?!? Ahhhhh, but I’m soooo grateful to say: Self-development, maybe not. But fiction? Aaaaaah, yesssss. Fortgang manages each character and a whole lotta emotions that are bandied about, really quite well. Very smooth going with Fortgang at the helm this time, so I was surprised and delighted!
Tears, Part One. Part Two? Utter LOATHing.
But Part Three?
Oh my. Tears again with a few chuckles thrown in. Maybe all the yumptious food descriptions couldn’t save the day, but a fine ending sure as heck did!
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.