Page 18 of My Book Boyfriend
Like a moth drawn to a flame.
But I’m not going to get burned.
Others give different reasons for why they picked up the book, like the New York City setting. Most chose it because they will read anything by Wilhelmina Chrissy.
“What did you like or dislike about the book? No spoilers yet.” I might as well start with the basics.
“I couldn’t figure it out, and yet, once it was revealed, the clues had been there all along,” Jing says.
“I really liked the way she captured old friendships—that easy familiarity and how when you get back together after a long time apart, it’s like the intervening time disappears, and you just pick up right where you left off,” Maddie says.
This group of ten people seated around the table, books or e-readers in front of them, all engaged, with the soft lighting and the green leaves as background, reminds me of a scene in the book. Wilhelmina Chrissy describes how when these friends all lived together, they would gather around the kitchen table and swap stories, catching up on the day. It sounded so idyllic.
“Except that I found it disheartening that they’d fallen out,” I say. “The author described it so realistically that I found it believable, but it made me sad.” But I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to believe that just like that, a group of friends could fall apart.
“Well, it was partially because Ashley and Herbert broke up,” Maddie says. “It seemed like they were the center of it all.”
Like how my parents and my family home had been my anchor. Now gone. But I’ve found my new family among my friends and the community I’ve built with the Oasis Garden. Bella smiles at me warmly from across the table.
“I didnotexpect Herbert to be murdered,” one woman says.
“Didn’t you read the back of the book?” Bella asks.
“No. I usually don’t. I like to go in blind,” she responds.
“Interesting. I always read the blurb, but that’s also an occupational hazard of being a writer,” Bella says. “I want to know how they hooked a reader into buying the book.”
“I also liked how Herbert went back to the neighborhood where they’d all first become friends and bought that apartment where they’d lived before,” Rupert says. “Wilhelmina Chrissy is really good about weaving in the importance of place. I loved when Ashley had that flashback to Herbert asleep in the living room, the sun lighting his long legs, and his feet sticking off the edge of the chaise lounge, and her cozying up to him. I really felt that uncertainty of young love and how much she loved him by the vividness of her memory of him in that room.”
I stare at Rupert. That was one of my favorite paragraphs of the book. It reminded me of my memories of my mom in our kitchen. So, he does understand the importance of a place. Maybe that’s a prerequisite for becoming a real estate developer.
I can still see my mom baking in the kitchen, but I worry that memory is fading, and it’s not like I can refresh it because the kitchen is gone—renovated by the new owners when my dad sold the apartment, according to our old neighbors.
“What did you think of the main character?” I ask.
“I liked her.” Rupert looks straight at me. “She was intelligent and resourceful.”
Strike two for my expectations that Rupert was just here because of the garden. He is enthusiastically participating in this discussion.
“Too intelligent and resourceful and calculating,” another guy says. “I thought she killed her ex-boyfriend.” And we’re already into the mystery portion of the book.
“She clearly still loved her ex, so I didn’t think she’d killed him,” the woman says.
We talk about our perceptions of the characters and how well the author defined each one.
“All right, let’s discuss who we thought killed Herbert,” I say.
“I thought it was the new boyfriend,” Rupert says. “I didn’t like him at all.”
“Oh, no,” another woman says. “He was so romantic.”
“I didn’t trust him. He wasn’t straight with her from the beginning.” I stare at Rupert. “I didn’t believe him when he said he was in love with her already. He barely knew her.”
“Same,” Maddie says.
“Did you think he killed Herbert?” another guy asks.
“I thought it would be too easy if he was the one who killed Herbert,” I said. “And jealousy over an ex didn’t seem like enough of a motive.”
