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I read this because I was hoping for a lighter book. I routinely read so many books with heavy subject matter by choice, but I thought this would be a nice reprieve. While there is humor to be found here, it’s not what I would call a light read. There are some real issues to think about here - a broken family, a sad lonely man who has put himself and his career before his family and now feels like a failure in his career as well. I’m an outlier here since there are so many 4 and 5 star reviews. I can’t say I loved this story. The main theme - a older man reaches a point in his life where he does some soul searching and has regrets about the man he has been and is seeking to change and perhaps redeem himself for all of the things that he didn’t give his family. I didn’t find it to be original as there are so many stories covering the regrets people feel later in life about lost chances.

While there were times when I felt sorry for Professor Chandra, I didn’t like him very much. He tries to figure out how he has failed with his children. Truth be known, they weren’t perfect and I didn’t like them very much either. Chandra has an accident which is the impetus for him to begin thinking about his life. He ends up attending a retreat at the recommendation of his ex wife’s husband called “Being Yourself in the Summer Solstice��. The group sessions where you bare your soul and get advice from others who are having issues of their own and where you actually bare your body sitting naked in the hot tubs having discussions felt contrived . He leaves after three days and is enlightened, but this self-help meditation, group thing just didn’t work for me. A way too predictable ending . As I said, even though the story didn’t feel new to me, there are some real family issues that a lot of readers will relate to. You should read the 4 and 5 star reviews.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Random House/The Dial Press through NetGalley.