A stand-alone novel by Mia March, Simon & Schuster/Gallery Books, July 2013
* An ARC was provided by Simon & Schuster/Gallery Books and Edelweiss for an honest review.
FINDING COLIN FIRTH is a lighthearted tale of three women who are struggling with life-altering decisions and how they find happiness and a chance for a new life in Boothbay Harbor, ME. With the title you'd think the book solely focuses on fans trying to catch a glimpse of the award-winning actor. And yes, that's a minor theme throughout the story. But there's so much more. The book's also about the decisions mothers make about having and raising children and how those decisions affect people many years later.
Bea Crane is a lonely 22-year-old short-order cook and student who suddenly finds herself in Boothbay Harbor searching for her birth mother. She's wary of approaching Veronica Russo, her birth mother, and worries Veronica won't want to see her again once they've met. Bea's running out of money and has to make a decision about meeting her mother soon. She's befriended by a pregnant journalist, 29-year-old Gemma Hendricks, who's writing a story about the 50th anniversary of Hope House, a home for unwed mothers. Gemma's been laid off of her newspaper job in New York City, visits Boothbay Harbor for a friend's wedding, and stays for a week. She's being pressured by her husband and his family to move to the suburbs and become a stay-at-home mom. But she's happiest when researching and writing a big story and questions whether she can drop her dream career to raise a child. Gemma's staying at a friend's upscale B&B and recommends Bea for the breakfast cook opening there. The inn is supplied with delicious pies made by 38-year-old Veronica, who's returned to Boothbay Harbor after traveling and working around the US for 21 years. Veronica prepares specialty pies infused with special qualities to help whomever's eating it and holds a pie-making class in her home once a week. After spending the last year worrying about and avoiding dealing with her teenage years in Boothbay Harbor, she's finally decided to have some fun and applies to be an extra on the Colin Firth movie filming in town. While Veronica enjoys being a movie extra, she's not so eager to look into her past, something she must face if she wants Bea to know the circumstances of her birth.
Bits and pieces of Colin Firth movies are woven throughout the story as they parallel some situations in the three women's lives. Parts of PRIDE & PREJUDICE are played out in Bea's life, and she tells Gemma that Veronica's not like Bette Midler's character in THEN SHE FOUND ME. Gemma's husband says she fell in love with him the way he was, hinting of Mark Darcy's famous quote to Bridget Jones in BRIDGET JONE'S DIARY, "I like you, very much. Just as you are."
I liked a lot of things about the book. The characters are fully developed, and the plot surrounding and linking them is strong. The author paints a wonderful picture of the town and the people who live there. Then there are the multitude of themes and emotions running throughout the story, including love, hate, fear, loneliness, romance, betrayal, self-confidence, and acceptance.
One thing I didn't like was the slow start hampered by the main characters' long inner monologues as they were introduced. To me the story just limped along until all three main characters were residing in Boothbay Harbor. Once that occured, the pace of the book picked up and was definitely more interesting.
All in all, I think FINDING COLIN FIRTH is a solid and enjoyable four-star story that you'll want to share with your friends and revisit from time to time.
IF YOU LIKE THIS, YOU MAY LIKE: The Meryl Streep Movie Club by Mia March, Time Flies by Claire Cook, He's Gone by Deb Caletti, Beautiful Day by Elin Hilderbrand