A Hundred Pieces of Me

This book had one of the great love stories I have ever read...between a dog and its owner. Seriously, the relationship that builds between Gina and the timid greyhound she reluctantly adopts is filled with small and genuine moments and a final triumph that made me reach for my tissues. And I'm a cat person!

The rest of the book is strong as well, if a bit slow at times. As Gina struggles to define the most meaningful items in her life, she gradually realizes that it's the moments that count more than the things. Through flashbacks that show her relationships with her first love, ex-husband, best friend and mother, Gina learns to be more self-accepting and more forgiving of others as well.

The only sour note in the book is Gina's relationship with Nick, her married client. Although Gina and Nick do not technically behave inappropriately, the wife is portrayed as a one-dimensional self-obsessed shrew who doesn't seem to deserve the compassion that Gina displays towards everyone else.

Readers who are familiar with Jojo Moyes' Me Before You might be alarmed by the author's endorsement of A Hundred Pieces of Me. While the ending is nowhere near as devastating, it is bittersweet at best. I chose to cast it in a hopeful light but others may be less optimistic.