Here and Now: Evocative, emotional and full of life, the most moving book you'll read this year

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Sante Montefiore heeft met Naar de overkant weer een heerlijke roman geschreven. Vanaf het begin af aan zit je meteen goed in het verhaal, je wordt als lezer eigenlijk direct opgenomen in het gezin van Marigold en het plattelandse dorpje waar ze wonen. Marigold staat centraal in het verhaal, maar haar man Dennis en twee dochters Suze en Daisy spelen ook een belangrijke rol. Ze hebben allemaal hun eigen verhaallijn binnen het grotere geheel waardoor het verhaal speels blijft. Marigold maakt echter wel de meeste indruk binnen Naar de overkant. Moeder van twee dochters en eigenaresse van een winkeltje in het dorp wat ze met veel passie runt. Wanneer ze op een gegeven moment dingen begint te vergeten, wordt dit op haar leeftijd gegooid. Het wordt echter al meer, totdat de diagnose Alzheimer vastgesteld wordt. De langzame achteruitgang hierna wordt heel mooi beschreven door Sante Montefiore. Niet alleen het proces wat Marigold zelf meemaakt, maar ook wat dit voor invloed heeft op de rest van het gezin. Op welke manier ze proberen haar te helpen om toch nog zo zelfstandig mogelijk te kunnen zijn. Maar ook het moment dat Marigold niet meer thuis kan wonen en op een gegeven moment haar man niet meer herkent. Dit wordt op een zeer intense manier beschreven. Liefde is dan ook het centrale thema in het verhaal, de onvoorwaardelijke liefde tussen Dennis en Marigold, maar ook de liefde die Suze en Daisy hebben in hun relatie met hun partner. What follows is a very lovely and heartbreaking novel about family and love and memory—what it means when your entire identity is made up of moments you can’t recall, when you can no longer remember those you’ve spent your entire life with. Montefiore expertly crafts complex relationships between the family members and their surrounding village people. This is my second Montefiore novel, and I absolutely adore how she writes her characters—they are all charming and messy and lovely. An enchanting read overflowing with deliciously poignant moments’ DINAH JEFFERIES on Songs of Love and War As the family learns to manage this upheaval, Marigold finds herself becoming more forgetful. Initially chalking it up to old age, it soon becomes harder for those who know her to ignore the signs that something else might be behind her forgetfulness.

I always wrote stories, becoming an author was a wonderful surprise. I never thought it would happen to me, so I never dreamed about it. I just wrote for pleasure and friends and then one day, aged 25, I sent a manuscript off to agents. Three refused me, one accepted me, the rest is a history of enthusiastic, talented people giving my books wings. Where do you find inspiration? Evocative, emotional and full of life, Here and Now is the most moving book you’ll read this year – from Sunday Times bestselling author Santa Montefiore. Die Autorin versteht es das ernste Thema Demenz mit guter Unterhaltung zu kombinieren. Sie schafft es die Ängste und Hilflosigkeit von Marigold selbst, aber auch von Familie und Freunden authentisch darzustellen, ohne kitschig zu werden. It’s about a family and a community coming together and rising to become their better selves when a much beloved member of the village gets dementia. It’s funny but also sad – mostly, it’s about love and learning to live in the moment. Have you always wanted to be an author? I was going to start this review with saying how lovely this book is, however, I do not think ‘lovely’ is the right word to use. So, let us try again, the characters are lovely, the village that the book is set in is lovely, however the subject is not lovely, in fact it is quite harrowing, and this book will send you on an emotional journey. If you are not hard hearted, then be warned this book WILL make you cry.Dieses Buch hat mich total überrascht. Ich habe vorher ein paar Rezensionen gelesen, wusste also, was mich erwartet. Anfangs war ich mir nicht sicher, ob es tatsächlich was für mich ist. Dann hat es mich aber regelrecht überrollt. Marigold woont samen met haar man Dennis en dochter Suze in een klein plattelands dorpje waar iedereen elkaar kent. Ook haar negentigjarige moeder, Nana, komt bij hun in huis wonen, thuis alleen red ze niet meer. Wanneer Daisy, de andere dochter van Marigold en Dennis, ook weer thuis komt wonen na een relatie van zes jaar in Milaan wordt het Marigold allemaal teveel. Het lijkt wel of ze al vergeetachtiger wordt, maar iedereen wuift dat weg en zegt dat het bij de leeftijd hoort. Wanneer ze op een gegeven moment echter niet meer in staat is om haar eigen winkel te runnen en de voorbereidingen van Suze haar bruiloft te treffen nemen de zorgen toe. Wat is er toch met haar aan de hand?

Santa Montefiore a reușit să adune sub cupola acestei cărți: teme importante, reacții, decizii, temeri, dragoste, speranță și prietenie. Deși par acțiunile unor personaje random, ele nu fac altceva decât să puncteze atitudinea noastră și a celor din jur în fața anumitor situații. a b c d Siobhan Kane (3 August 2013). "Connemara's gift to Santa". Irish Times . Retrieved 5 October 2016.Though no-one, least of all the author, would try to deny dementia is a terrible condition, ultimately I found this story hopeful and happy, and I’m so glad to have met Marigold.

I also feel this way about the other members of Marigold's family. Dennis just has a heart fo gold and you can tell he is absolutely besotted by his wife. I enjoyed meeting Daisy and Suze. I wasn't sure about them to begin with but their lives are very real and very like my own and I totally warmed to them and lived this whole story line through their eyes. Then we have Nan who is definitely hard to like but when you get down to the roots of her ways, you can see that she does have her daughter's best interests at heart. If you’re prepared to have your heart broken into a million pieces, I’d suggest you look no further than this. There’s so much to enjoy in this book beside the immediate story. Marigold’s memories may be fading, but village life goes on in a series of often-funny cameos involving nonagenarian gossips, retired commodores, camp cat owners and the arrival of local squire Taran from Canada. He’s intrigued by Daisy … but she suspects he may want to develop the land around the village, interfering with her mother’s happiness. As the seasons turn, we see how much balm the beauty of nature offers Marigold, never happier than when she is walking the hills or feeding her beloved birds. Surely this won’t be taken from her, too? Meanwhile, as Daisy and Suze soak in the familiar comforts of home, they soon discover that their mother isn’t quite the same woman she was a few years ago. Sure, she is still kind-hearted and always willing to help, but something about their mom is different, and it’s becoming harder and harder for the family to ignore. For the first time in their lives, Dennis and his daughters find themselves caring for Marigold rather than the other way around. Kind, happy, warm-hearted Marigold captured my heart from the outset – no-one could help from loving her. Her family are equally engaging – none of them perfect (except perhaps the delightful Dennis) but all strong and resourceful in their own way. Acerbic-tongued Nan struggles most to accept her daughter’s condition, but is always supportive and dizzy Suze rises to the challenge. But it’s Daisy, perhaps, who is affected most. With Luca in the past, and her mother’s needs filling the present and future, it seems her dreams of marriage and a family are in tatters. Her determination to put family responsibility first is admirable.

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But concerns start to creep in when Marigold begins to forget things. She leaves her handbag in the church pew. She forgets to post customers’ parcels. She points painter Daisy in the direction of an artshop that has been shut down for over twenty years … Der Roman besteht aus 29 eher kürzeren Kapiteln. Erzählt wird überwiegend aus der Sicht von Marigold, aber auch aus anderen Perspektiven. Der Aufbau funktioniert gut. Marigold lebt mit ihrer Familie in einer englischen Kleinstadt. Sie ist sowas wie die gute Seele ihrer Familie und des ganzen Dorfes. Sie ist immer für alles und jeden da und kommt selbst manchmal etwas kurz. Irgendwann beginnt die Vergesslichkeit. Anfangs noch harmlos. „Das ist das Alter“ denkt sie noch. Auch als es Aussenstehenden auffällt, schieben es alle auf ihr Alter. Das Ganze wird aber immer auffälliger. Marigold versucht ihren Zustand zu verbergen. Anfangs gelingt ihr das auch. Doch irgendwann wird ihr klar, da stimmt was nicht. Was die Familie und die Bewohner dieses Dorfes alles tun, um ihre Marigold zu unterstützen, ist unglaublich berührend zu lesen. Das ein oder andere Tränchen habe ich beim lesen vergossen.