The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise by Colleen Oakley ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

Twenty-one-year-old Tanner doesn't want to do much but sleep and play video games.  In the past, she had great plans but an accident caused her to lose her scholarship and she had to come home.  She is so upset with the changes in her life that she doesn't exert any energy trying to find a job or planning to go back to school.  Her parents try to help her by getting her a job as a live-in caretaker for Louise, an 84-year-old woman who has broken her hip.  Louise feels that she's capable of taking care of herself but her daughter insists that she needs a live-in caretaker.  The initial meetings between Tanner and Louise don't give either of them fond feelings about each other.  In the beginning, they totally ignore each other.  Tanner plays video games while Louise entertains herself and insists on her two fingers of vodka every afternoon.  Louise wants a caretaker even less than Tanner wants to be one.  Soon  Tanner begins to notice some strange things at the house.  When she sees a news report of police looking into a jewel heist forty years earlier, she's shocked to see that one of the thieves looks just like Louise.  Things get even stranger when Louise goes to Tanner's room in the middle of the night and tells her that she will pay Tanner for taking her to California but they have to leave right now.    She has no idea why they are leaving in the middle of the night but suspects that it has something to do with the jewelry heist years ago.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

March 2023; Berkley; 978-0593200803
audio, ebook, print (352 pages); women's fiction

The road trip is their chance of getting to know each other.  Gradually their negative feelings disappear and they realize that there are in this together.  The banter between the two main characters is often very humorous with some laugh-out-loud moments.  Louise is a feisty 84 year and her character provided the most laughs for me.

This charming and unique story of a developing friendship between two very different characters is heartfelt and humorous.  Their road trip across the country is full of problems - like finding parts for the vintage Jaguar that they are driving but the more time they spend together, the more they learn to like and respect each other.

The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise is my favorite book by this author.  It's a quick read with a bit of mystery, a bit of romance, and two very real and lovable main characters that I won't soon forget.

Buy The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise at Amazon

Susan Roberts grew up in Michigan but loves the laid-back life at her home in the Piedmont area of North Carolina where she is two hours from the beach to the east and the mountains in the west.  She reads almost anything but her favorite genres are Southern Fiction and Historical Fiction.  You can connect with her on Facebook.

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