"The Perfect Present"

I'm not an avid reader, but I will become one when I get hold of amazing and superb books. I like the feeling when I could really enjoy a book, immerse in the story's ups and downs, seeing how the story evolves as the characters in the story. It gives me a little escapism from the real life - a little escape to be someone else, temporarily. At times we just gotta be someone else to form a different perspective of life. 

The book which i have just finished reading is "The Perfect Present" by Karen Swan. The ending was very heart-warming, amazing and inspiring! On the cover it says "Memories are a gift..." and I truly feel and agree with it towards the end - it is just so true! Laura, ran a jewellery business and had always kept her world small. However, her life came to a turning point, or more like a point of new realization when one day Rob walked into her studio and asked her to make a charm necklace for his enigmatic wife, Cat. She had to make seven charms, and each charm would tell and represent someone in Cat's life. She was then invited to join Rob and his friends to activities they do as friends. Laura, while appearing as a guest, had to work on her charms by secretly interviewing the selected seven people for their memories with Cat so that she could design the perfect charm for each person. She had to interview Cat's family, friends, and former lovers. It wasn't easy throughout. New feelings, emotions, and problems with Jack (her boyfriend) back at home set in and drained Laura out, physically and emotionally. It came to some point where she almost lost her own identity and become like Cat. Rob started to feel and act differently towards Laura when he found out who she really was - the one she has been hiding from everyone. And, he hated the fact that Laura wanted to be invisible when she could be such a great person. As the story unfolds, Laura was forced to choose between who she really was and who it was she wanted to be.

Interesting book! I like the part where friendship was discussed in this novel. True friends won't leave each other, and they will always have our back. I also love the part when Laura picked the charms for the seven people interviewed and how each charm represented each of them meaningfully. Lastly, the ending surprised me. Laura was doing all sorts of adventurous things, going on a hot air balloon in Safari, diving into the sea, skiing... and the inspiration was from her mother, who passed away when she was very young. And, oh, i extremely love this line:

"Brush the floor and sweep the sky"

We gotta go to the very tops and bottoms of the world because we'd feel most alive at the extremes of human experience. I couldn't agree more - that's what I plan to do too! I feel like doing adventurous things helps me to gain a different perspective of life. You discover and learn more about life.

The perfect present could have been the perfect charm-necklace for Cat. Also it could have been the present Laura's mother left for her, that is the charm necklace her mom made for her which tells the story of her life and who she really is. And yes, memories are a gift.