Indies Introduce

Fiction

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  Let's Hope for the Best, Carolina Setterwall
  Little, Brown and Company, 9780316489621, July 9, 2019 (Fiction)
  

   

  “An absorbing narrative that alternates between the delights of falling in love and the excruciating grief of suddenly losing a spouse. Told in Carolina’s voice, the story tenderly and unsparingly conveys not only the intricate aspects of her romance with Aksel but also the many levels of mourning that came with finding herself widowed young and with a child and wondering if she might have contributed to her husband’s untimely passing. By shifting back and forth in time, the book gradually converges on a tragedy that’s already known, then extends toward an uncertain future filled with new love but also fresh questions.”

  Bradley Graham, Politics and Prose Bookstore, Washington, DC
  
  

  “This book made me cry in a coffee shop (I am an easy crier, but still…). We are taken into the life of one woman as all that she loves and holds dear is shattered; her pain and grief are so real that, for a moment, you are transported into her world. For those who have experienced loss, this captures the moment when you realize that there is no certainty in life; we just have to hope for the best.”

  Jessica Osborne, E. Shaver, Bookseller, Savannah, GA
  

   

  “While everyone experiences death differently, the stages of grief are familiar to many, outlining the progression from loss to learning to live with that loss. Reading about those stages is one thing—reading a first person account of grieving is totally different. Carolina Setterwall was adapting to life with a baby when her partner, Aksel, died unexpectedly in his sleep. Let’s Hope for the Best, a work of auto-fiction, is written directly to Aksel, chronicling the growth of his relationship with Carolina, and the months and years following his death. Surrounded by loving friends and family, Carolina is nevertheless profoundly bereft. Slowly, she puts her life back together, parenting her son the best way she can, and gradually finds herself able to look to the future for herself. The book, which is translated from Swedish, describes the universal experience of grieving through the lens of a particular woman’s experience with it.”

  Sally Wizik Wills, Beagle and Wolf Books & Bindery, Park Rapids, MN