The small town of Barrington, with its picturesque cottages, breathtaking gardens and friendly neighbors, is very appealing. Things are going swimmingly for Lang Eldridge, an unlikely cancer survivor who is marking the one-year anniversary of her “death sentence.” She spent her supposed final year of life making sure her beloved husband, Jack, could survive without her. A caramel cake is in the freezer for his first birthday without her and love letters for every occasion are carefully written and tied with a pink ribbon. But just as she is packing for their celebratory trip, Jack drops dead on the tennis court. Devastated and reeling from shock, Lang realizes all of her perfect arrangements are in utter disarray. A mute stray dog posts itself on her front porch and a grammar-butchering fashion plate, A.J. Cole, practically takes up residence, regularly revealing too much information to loner Lang. Her son, Teddy, a tennis has-been, has his own ideas of how she should manage her life, and they don’t include cavorting about with a veterinarian who resembles Wimpy. Lillian, Lang’s long-lost mother, reappears and is as obnoxious as ever, waving to the pews at Jack’s funeral like she is Miss America. Lang’s granddaughter, Katie D, is a consistent bright spot, and Lang can’t imagine her life without her. As she realizes Jack wasn’t exactly the person she thought he was, she discovers a secret he carried to his grave could ruin her life. If she lets it. Compared to the Mitford Years by Jan Karon and Good Grief by Lolly Winston, Making Arrangements features “rich sassy writing with characters you’ll want to slap.” It is a story of family life and friendship, about mothers of both grown and young children, and how strangers (even the most irritating) can evolve into sisters. Relationships of all sorts can bloom into love (at any age) and the love between family, between mothers and children, grandparents and grandchildren, and sisters, is worth sustaining.
