Window on the Bay: A Novel
By: Debbie Macomber
Rating: 5 of 5
This is the story of two women who are starting over in life as middle age approaches.
Jenna is an intensive care nurse who divorced her surgeon husband decades earlier. She has spent her life, since then, focusing on raising her two children, Paul and Allie. Now, both children are off to college, though her ties to both are still deep.
Maureen is a librarian and married while still in college when she she became pregnant with her daughter, Tori. The marriage didn’t work out and she has been single ever since.
The women dreamed of going to Paris when they were in college but life got in the way and so it got postponed. They are thinking of going again but life reared its head once again.
The women haven’t dated that much but developed a code for dates called green light/red light. This is exactly what it sounds like, green go, red stop, and even yellow, proceed with caution.
Both women meet new men whom they would never have expected to date. They have to decide whether it is time for a green light even though the new men in their lives are completely different from what they expected to find at this point in their lives.
Life, by way of their grown children, steps in to divert their attention either from or to these new men (depending on which Jenna or Maureen is involved.)
The two confront new facets of themselves during this journey. The window on the bay is a place where Jenna goes to seek comfort and solace and to unwind.
Debbie Macomber has written another lovely tale. It speaks of life with its ups and downs. Her books are always a lovely adventure and one that is believable and uplifting.
I was provided a digital advance reader copy of this book by the publisher via Netgalley.