Once Upon a Sunset

Diana is an OB/Gyn and loves her job – even when she has issues with the ‘inequities’ in the hospital’s policies regarding insured versus VIP patients. And, while doing entirely the right thing for her patient turns out to be entirely the wrong thing in terms of the hospital’s administration, it does give her time to help her mother sort out her grandmother’s belongings before her “bucket list’ trip with her friends, and be there for the ‘rehab’ planned for her townhouse. A rehab planned with her now ex-fiancé, another doctor at the hospital she works at. In the midst of all of the upheaval in Diana’s ordinarily very structured and ‘no surprises’ life there are twists – twists that she doesn’t want to acknowledge – but curiosity has more power than she ever expected. Diana’s mother Margo raised her alone – much as Margo was raised by her grandmother Leora. Long buried history is contained in a box of letters from Antonio (her grandfather) to her grandmother Leora, and this opened questions about other relatives, the stories they took as truth, and some lingering desire to learn of their roots. While Diana decides to use her ‘break’ from the hospital to follow up a lead from a private investigator, Margo’s plan is to head off to New Orleans, then California and elsewhere with her friends – their bucket list trip destined to be an Instagram sensation. This was lovely and managed to encompass all of the hope, questions, hurts, anger, forgiveness and frustrations that must have accompanied the ‘true’ reason that Antonio never returned to the states to claim Leora or his daughter Margo. Snippets of family strife from the ‘new relations’ appearing, protectiveness over what is seen as “their domain’ and the indomitable Flora, wife of Antonio and a woman of consequence even at the ripe age of 100, the story takes emotions, questions, mixes in a ton of history from the Filipino perspective and tempers it all with the joy of family, acceptance and love. Learning who you are, and finding answers to questions that you hadn’t even asked yourself – at least not consciously, all blend into a story that is easy to read, engaging and heartwarming. A favorite for the people, the characterizations, the emotions and the ability to tackle difficult subjects and make them make sense – Marcelo’s family and friendship-based stories are first rate. I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.