Thank you to Beauty and Lace and The Head of Zeus for the opportunity to read The Night We Met by Zoe Folbigg.
We meet Olivia Messina, 43 years young, a cancer patient, a wife, and a mother. She has had a hideous year, full of consultants, nurses, radiographers, and now, in her words – “we’ve hit rock bottom”.
Her husband Daniel desperately clings to hope of new research and treatments…anything for more time.
Olivia asks Daniel, a sports journalist, to write their story for their girls.
Their story began in Australia in 1996.
Two weeks before Daniel Bleeker and his then-girlfriend were due to fly from London to Sydney for a 3-month backpacking experience, she broke up with him. To make matters worse, she insisted Daniel give his ticket to her new boyfriend. Uncharacteristically, Daniel refused, he told her he would still be going!
While Daniel tried to process the shock dumping, heartache, and how lonely he felt as he toured Sydney, in a coffee shop he notices a girl “with hair like a bonfire, bronze skin and burning eyes”. She was completely at ease in the group she was with.
Coincidences do happen and he continued to see her from a distance as he travelled. The fourth time he saw her, they held each other’s gaze and Daniel realised it was more than a crush for him. He didn’t expect to see her again.
In New Zealand fate brings them together. He finds out her name is Olivia. She shares her unique life story thus far in her 20 years.
With all love stories, they need to happen at the right time. This wasn’t their time and they both get on with their lives. Some years later Daniel travels to Milan for work and tracks Olivia down. This time Olivia really notices Daniel and their story together begins.
Daniel, true to his word writes their story. It tells us about their past and their present. It is full of love, sorrow and loss, and family. It’s a celebration of their daughters Flora and Sofia, the dreams they have both achieved, and the journey of Olivia’s illness.
Their story is often very funny and often very sad. One minute you can be the luckiest family in the world and then in an instant it is all shattered.
An excellent read 4 stars.
A selection of our Beauty and Lace Club Members are reading The Night We Met by Zoe Folbigg. You can read their comments below, or add your own review.
ISBN: 9781789542141
I love to read, any book on any topic. I now love ebooks as they are easier to store, I was running out of bookshelves! My other interests are family, gardening and our beautiful King Charles spaniel dog who is my reading companion.