Pieces of Happiness

June 15, 2017
A group of old friends wonder if they can pick up where they left off 40 years ago.When Kat mails letters to her high school friends inviting them to pack up their lives and move to Fiji, she isn't sure what to expect. While Kat has lived in countless locales around the world, her friends Sina, Lisbeth, Ingrid, and Maya have lived more conventional lives back in their native Norway. Still, they are all in their late 60s, at the point where they are willing to jump at the chance to try something new. That isn't to say that the other women have had it easy--they have all dealt with more than their fair shares of anxiety regarding children and family life, financial woes, relationship troubles, and health concerns. Together, the women create a new future for themselves in Fiji, eventually converting Kat's cocoa plantation into a fledgling chocolate business. Late in the novel, Lisbeth wonders, "Is it possible to become who you were before?" Indeed, this is the very question that lingers as each woman attempts to either reclaim or refashion her identity across the world in her later years. Will Sina cut ties with her manipulative son, Armand, and finally force him to grow up? Will Lisbeth be able to shake her insecurities? Will Kat find the solace and companionship she was looking for when she extended this intense invitation to her distant friends? While the novel does an adequate job delving into the inner workings of the characters, its ambitious scope and its relatively short length are at odds. While some of the friends are fully fleshed out, others fall flat. Interspersed with the friends' perspectives are prayers from their housekeeper, Ateca, who worries about the women--often repeating details that have already been solidly established--and offers some back story on the Fijian natives. Ostby's U.S. debut offers up delectable food, a lush location, and unwavering friendships.

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September 18, 2017
Ostby’s compassionate and uplifting debut novel is an examination of the intricacies of friendship, the power of freedom, and the potential of inspiration. Kat, owner of a cocoa farm in Fiji, reconnects with her old high school girlfriends by offering them a tempting opportunity: leave their homes in Norway and live together in paradise. The thought of uprooting all they’ve ever known is daunting, but with minimal hesitation, Sina, Ingrid, Lisbeth, and Maya, all in their 60s, soon land on Fijian soil. Each has a defining problem: Sina has a parasitic son, Lisbeth is shackled to a not-so-idyllic marriage, Ingrid has always suppressed her adventurous spirit, Kat wrestles with the fact that the situation with her longtime partner is no longer sustainable, and Maya faces a progressive illness. But together, the friends bloom with confidence and are reinvigorated by the bonds of friendship and the prospect of a successful business endeavor—chocolate making. Finding strength and comfort in one another, the women rediscover the gift of friendship and the blessing of independence. The cast of rich and textured characters drives home the hopeful themes of love and companionship.

August 1, 2017
The letter contained an audacious offer: leave Norway and come live with me in Fiji. After her husband died, Kat was left alone on their cocoa plantation in the South Pacific country. So she reached out to four high-school friends to see if they were ready to start a new chapter in their lives with her. In many ways, the group of women in their 60s could not be more different, from the mother constantly hounded by her middle-aged son for money to the dependable bookkeeper with a secret inner twin yearning to be set free. But both their old bonds and their new enterprise, a business creating delicious chocolate to send back home, bring them together in this profound novel. Ostby's luxurious descriptions of Fijian life and culture add a fragrant whiff of the tropics and provide an exotic background to the story, but the main attraction is witnessing these women grow in surprising ways as they are liberated from their old lives. Both bitter and sweet, this novel is a delightful read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)