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Maybe in Another Life

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The repetition of history is not lost on me. It’s more than a decade later, and I am once again staying in Gabby’s guest room. It’s been more than ten years, and yet I am still floating from place to place, relying on the kindness of Gabby and her family. This time, it’s Gabby and her husband, Mark, instead of Gabby and her parents. But if anything, that just highlights the difference between the two of us, how much Gabby has changed since then and how much I have not. Gabby’s the VP of Development at a nonprofit that works with at-risk teenagers. I’m a waitress. And not a particularly good one.

Have you ever wondered if you were living your life in an alternating universe as well as the one you are in now? Maybe in Another Life examines this idea using two alternating plotlines and parallel timelines. It’s a small room but big enough for just me. There’s a double bed with a billowy white comforter, a desk, and a dresser. Some people talk about their first time as a hilarious or pathetic experience. I can’t relate. Mine was with someone I loved, someone who also had no idea what we were doing. The first time I had sex, I made love. I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for Ethan for that very reason. I listened to the audio version. Julia Whelan's narration is nothing less than amazing! If you are looking for a good audio book look no further! This one is fantastic!I laugh with her. “No, no, it’s fine,” I say. I don’t move from place to place on purpose. It’s not a conscious choice to be a nomad. Although I can see that each move is my own decision, predicated on nothing but my ever-growing sense that I don’t belong where I am, fueled by the hope that maybe there is, in fact, a place I do belong, a place just off in the future. “I guess… I don’t know,” I say. It’s hard to put into words, especially to someone I barely know. But then I open my mouth, and out it comes. “No place has felt like home.”

One of my favorite parts of this book was the consistent ONE THING that never changed in Hannah’s life and the directions it took. And that one thing is Gabby, her best friend. No matter what universe or path Hannah is in/on, Gabby is right by her side. I have a bestie like that and I love that Hannah does, too! Serendipity, destiny and, ironically, casuality are the fil rouge that lead the entire story, and you can't help but question your life as you watch Hannah's take different turns just to reach a bittersweet ending, each time. The official synopsis reads: “Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular. By the time Carrie retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Slam titles. And if you ask her, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father as her coach.” 1. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo there's a character in this who works in a hospital who collects the hair ties he finds on the ground there.

Maybe in Another Life

TJR then takes the reader through a series of alternating chapters, a la Sliding Doors, showing the dramatically different outcomes between choice A and choice B. And I won't say any more about the plot because it's so much more fun to go in blind! Just after midnight, Gabby asks Hannah if she’s ready to go. A moment later, Ethan offers to give her a ride later if she wants to stay. Hannah hesitates. What happens if she leaves with Gabby? What happens if she leaves with Ethan?

I look at him and smile. “Did we have a good reason?” I say, repeating his question. “I don’t know. Teenagers don’t really have to have good reasons.”

8. Maybe in Another Life

I think he’s married,” I finally said to her a month or so ago. I was sitting in bed, still in my pajamas, talking to her on my laptop, and fixing my bun. Once Gabby is flying down the freeway, once driving no longer takes her attention, or maybe once she is going so fast she knows I can’t jump out of the car, she asks what she has been dying to ask since I hugged her hello. “So what happened? Did you tell him you were leaving?” What happens if she stays? What will that mean for her and Ethan? What happens if she goes? Will that change how he feels about her? Hannah considers what both possibilities might mean. And then the book proceeds by exploring both scenarios, in alternate chapters, and the path that each scenario leads to. You’ve been in this city for twelve hours, according to my calculations,” Ethan says. “And I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you be here for twelve more without seeing me.” The pacing was pretty slow, the plot was not all that eventful and where Sliding Doors had an element of fate to it, no matter what choices you took, this did not, and so the whole premise therefore seemed a little off and pointless.

Taylor Jenkins Reid has been taking the world by storm with her books. Currently, two of her books have a television or film adaptation set to be released and two more are still in development. This concept is not new. In 1998 Gwyneth Paltrow was in a British film called Sliding Doors that was quite similar. This is like it's American cousin but I thought this was better. I didn’t know he was married at first. And for some reason, I thought that meant it was OK. He never admitted he was married. He never wore a wedding ring. He didn’t even have a paler shade of skin around his ring finger, the way magazines tell you married men will. He was a liar. A good one, at that. And even though I suspected the truth, I thought that if he never said it, if he never admitted it to my face, then I wasn’t accountable for the fact that it was true. In 2022, it was confirmed Netflix would be adapting the novel into a feature film. A lot of readers are keen for Jessica Chastain to take on one of the roles and she has even said she’s on board with the idea. Related stories recommended by this writer: The 1998 movie Sliding Doors (starring Gwyneth Paltrow) takes a similar premise as Maybe in Another Life, and examines how one woman’s life differs based on whether or not she catches a train. Watch the film as a group, and discuss how its portrayal of two possible outcomes for one woman’s life differs from Hannah’s story. Are the two projects making the same point or contrasting ones?Hannah meets up with her ex boyfriend Ethan in a bar, and this is where the show begins. We get two alternate universes that depend on whether Hannah stays with Ethan at the bar or whether she leaves with Gabby and her husband. I thought it was going to be like magical realism, where she gets to experience both realities and maybe have to choose one. I think this was even better. I found my emotions shifting between each reality and wow, it’s definitely not something I experience with every book. Reading, much like everything else, is subjective. So take this for what it is - my opinion. Not every reader connects with every author and this just happens to be one of those times. #movingon

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