The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver

Yesterday would have been Broadway actor Nick Cordero’s 42nd birthday. Last year, when he turned 41 years old, he had just moved to Laurel Canyon from New York with his wife, fitness guru Amanda Kloots and their baby, Elvis. Nick died of complications related to Covid-19 on July 5, 2020, in Los Angeles. I still follow Amanda on Instagram because I find her posts uplifting, positive and nothing-short-of-amazing. One minute she has this loving and talented husband, and the next minute he is gone. Yet, she is still working, taking care of her son and dancing as fast as she can. “The Two Lives of Lydia Bird” by Josie Silver, presents a similar, fictional love story cut short. On the way to celebrate Lydia’s 28th birthday, her long-time love and fiancé Freddie dies in a tragic car accident. Her best friend Jonah survives the crash, but Lydia’s world is suddenly shattered in a single day.  While she is trying to move forward with her life, something magical happens: thanks to participation in a clinical sleep study, she suddenly has the ability to travel back in time and be with Freddie, periodically. Like the best time travel romances, the rules are unpredictable, but the ability to once again see someone who has died is insatiable. Lydia toggles back and forth between the past and the present, trying to figure out which world is real and which one is not. When she begins to feel uncomfortable in the past, she must make a decision about her future. I love books that explore not only romance, but also the different levels of grief and this books does both. To buy this book on Amazon click here.