One Old, One New - The Colleen Oakley Edition

One Old, One New features two books – one old, one new, which are connected in some way. Today I am featuring two books by Colleen Oakley.

---

The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise by Colleen Oakley
Published by Berkley Books on March 28, 2023
Age/Genres: Contemporary, Fiction

Goodreads

Twenty-one-year-old Tanner Quimby needs a place to live. Preferably one where she can continue sitting around in sweatpants and playing video games nineteen hours a day. Since she has no credit or money to speak of, her options are limited, so when an opportunity to work as a live-in caregiver for an elderly woman falls into her lap, she takes it.

One slip on the rug. That’s all it took for Louise Wilt’s daughter to demand that Louise have a full-time nanny living with her. Never mind that she can still walk fine, finish her daily crossword puzzle, and pour the two fingers of vodka she drinks every afternoon. Bottom line -- Louise wants a caretaker even less than Tanner wants to be one.

The two start off their living arrangement happily ignoring each other until Tanner starts to notice things—weird things. Like, why does Louise keep her garden shed locked up tighter than a prison? And why is the local news fixated on the suspect of one of the biggest jewelry heists in American history who looks eerily like Louise? And why does Louise suddenly appear in her room, with a packed bag at 1 a.m. insisting that they leave town immediately?

Thus begins the story of a not-to-be-underestimated elderly woman and an aimless young woman who—if they can outrun the mistakes of their past—might just have the greatest adventure of their lives.

I had featured this book as one of my most anticipated reads. It gave off a serious Thelma & Louise vibe, and I am always down for an unlikely friendship. Tanner & Louise blew my expectations out of the water. What a fun and fantastic road trip I had with these two!

Louise was a pistol, and she had such an incredible history. And, wow, secrets! I am going to tell you right now, you think you know, but you don’t. I could not have anticipated the things that were revealed. Oakley really threw some surprises into the mix, and they were fantastic. I simply cannot stop gushing about Louise and her backstory. She was such a well drawn character who was multifaceted and fascinating. I would love to have her as my friend.

Tanner was going through a low point. An injury derailed her plans to become a professional soccer player, and she was also unable to afford college without her athletic scholarship. This job as Louise’s caretaker was an ultimatum from her parents, and the kick in the butt she needed to comes to terms with these big life changes. I did feel for her, and I was grateful that she had Louise to help her see things from a different perspective.

There’s quite a bit of social commentary in this book. Sometimes that wears me down, but it never seemed like soapboxing. In fact, it felt organic and fit the story. Louise’s thoughts on aging, society’s view of the elderly, and that of women were thought provoking. So much great stuff.

The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise had it all – great characters, mystery, shenanigans, female friendship, humor, and heart. This was a buddy caper which grabbed me from page one and never let go. I absolutely adored this book!

*ARC PROVIDED BY THE PUBLISHER

---

The Invisible Husband of Frick Island by Colleen Oakley
Published by Berkley Books on May 25, 2021
Age/Genres: Contemporary, Fiction

Goodreads

Sometimes all you need is one person to really see you.

Piper Parrish's life on Frick Island—a tiny, remote town smack in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay—is nearly perfect. Well, aside from one pesky detail: Her darling husband, Tom, is dead. When Tom's crab boat capsized and his body wasn't recovered, Piper, rocked to the core, did a most peculiar thing: carried on as if her husband was not only still alive, but right there beside her, cooking him breakfast, walking him to the docks each morning, meeting him for their standard Friday night dinner date at the One-Eyed Crab. And what were the townspeople to do but go along with their beloved widowed Piper?

Anders Caldwell’s career is not going well. A young ambitious journalist, he’d rather hoped he’d be a national award-winning podcaster by now, rather than writing fluff pieces for a small town newspaper. But when he gets an assignment to travel to the remote Frick Island and cover their boring annual Cake Walk fundraiser, he stumbles upon a much more fascinating tale: an entire town pretending to see and interact with a man who does not actually exist. Determined it’s the career-making story he’s been needing for his podcast, Anders returns to the island to begin covert research and spend more time with the enigmatic Piper—but he has no idea out of all the lives he’s about to upend, it’s his that will change the most.

Not the story I was expecting, but still a rather lovely exploration of grief and the different ways people can show us love. Frick Island had all that small town charm that I adore, and it was weirdly wonderful that these people pretended to see Piper’s dead husband. The truth was that they did it as a way to support her while she was dealing with such a tremendous loss. Could you imagine being so loved that an entire island of people would participate in such a thing?

As if I didn’t already love the people of Frick Island, they were also a rather fun and quirky bunch. I had a fantastic time getting to know them as they helped me see the charm of the island and their ways. It was delightful to see Anders taken in by the island as well. He went from being a “Come Here” to a “From Here”. That’s the beauty of really getting to know and understand a place and its people. You can find your preconceptions challenged.

Anders and his podcast brought a bit of mystery and fun to this tale. When I first started this book, I thought this was his story, however by the end, it was clearly about Piper and her healing process. The ending was a bit a surprise, a good one in some ways, and it also seemed right for the story that emerged. I can tell you that there were some tears in my eyes, and I was touched.

Favorite female duo – real or fictional?
Let us know in the comments!