That Part Was True

By: Deborah McKinlay

Narrated by: L.J. Ganser, Katherine Kellgren

In this affecting and "rewarding" epistolary novel, two unlikely divorcés -- a romantic pessimist and a newfound bachelor -- get a second chance at love (New York Times Book Review).
When Eve Petworth writes to Jackson Cooper to praise a scene in one of his books, they discover a mutual love of cookery and food. Their friendship blossoms against the backdrop of Jackson's colorful, but ultimately unsatisfying, love life and Eve's tense relationship with her soon-to-be married daughter.
As each of them offers, from behind the veils of semi-anonymity and distance, wise and increasingly affectionate counsel to the other, they both begin to confront their problems and plan a celebratory meeting in Paris -- a meeting that Eve fears can never happen.

Engaging story

The author has presented believable, accessible characters, finding ways to make each of them likable despite their flaws, failings and idiosyncrasies. I found myself recognizing the tangled and complex relationships, rooting for them all to gain honest insight into themselves so they could overcome issues and move forward. The storytelling is solid and manages to balance character based humor with raw emotion and the universal regret found in the best family dramas — while exploring an original, unconventional love story. The only negative is the readers, primarily the female, whose upper class British accent seemed a bit too stilted, though both were forced.