Boek recensies - Lectuur en literatuur

Things go wrong when Jesse suddenly reappears in her life. He turns out to be alive after all - by being stuck on a rock in the sea for years? Living on oysters and collected rainwater?! And eventually swimming for two days (yes, really) and being rescued?! A healthy, fit man can't even do that - everyone needs their moments of rest - let alone someone who is emaciated from a meager diet.
But anyway. Jesse comes back. And Emma just goes there on her own. No emotional support for her, as if this isn't the most bizarre and emotionally confusing moment of her life. And where Jesse is slightly overwhelmed, he doesn't seem to have changed much. They have a moment together and decide to have breakfast together the next day. Because Emma has changed NOTHING in her life for this spectacular return of her lost husband. No, she just has to go to work the next day.

I could share my irritation about every chapter. But I'll stick to the main points. The characters are terribly superficial and Emma is a particularly egocentric woman. She is actually only concerned with what Jesse's return means for her, and that she now suddenly has to choose between two men. There is no joy that her husband turns out to be alive, only confusion. She sleeps with both men multiple times within three days, and as soon as one man is out of sight, he seems to have disappeared from her heart. How often does she tell them both that she loves him (and that is often).
And the conclusion is also frustratingly superficial. After spending two days with Jesse, they realize that they are too different, because they have both changed too much. What are those changes? That Emma now prefers to live in her parents' village, that she has her hair short and blond, and that she now plays the piano. We do not see how Jesse has changed. He is still reckless, still wants to travel, and it does not seem that the fact that he spent years alone on such an island has had any impact on him. Very realistic.
So they take two days to discover whether they are still a good fit for each other, before Emma goes back to Sam, her true great love. Who hardly has a character. The only thing we know about him is what Emma says about him (that he is sweet), because there is hardly any “show, don’t tell” in this book. The end of the story seems to be a chain of wise lessons about love, which are shared through Emma’s thoughts and her conversations. The reader himself is not given the space to give any interpretation to this.