RATING: VERY GOOD
SPOILERS!!!
What a beautiful book! So sad, moving, and also uplifting!
Rosie and Sam learn that Jonah’s cancer is caused by his having HIV. The situation is quite serious, and Sam complicates things when he goes behind Rosie’s back and tells Trudi that he wants her to find a new home for Jonah.
Shortly afterwards Peter tells Trudi that he has found Jonah’s mother and he is flying to Kenya. Trudi wants to go with him and talk to the woman, but Peter is adamant as she would jeopardising his job and hers. So Trudi finally agrees to stay behind. Yet, when the Keeps get the bad news about Sam, Rosie also learns about what Sam told Trudi and she naturally gets very angry. Rosie also decides that before Jonah starts his treatment, they need to fly to Kenya and talk to Jonah’s father.
The trip there is uncomfortable as Rosie won’t talk to her husband and even though he has tried to explain his reasons, she is too angry. Trudi always goes with them, and when they land in Kenya, Peter is anything but happy about their presence there. The group finally locate Grace, Jonah’s mum, and the boy asks to allowed to talk to her alone. Grace is very sick; she also has HIV, and she is very poorly. This is the real reason why she sent Jonah to England. She was also afraid that Jonah might have her condition, and in England they would make him better. Jonah feels disappointed when he realises that his mother knew that Mr Sir wouldn’t take him in.
After talking to his mum and realising she is very sick, Jonah thinks he will stay with her. Then he goes to the beach with Sam while Rosie talks to Grace. Rosie starts to understand the woman, and Grace tells her that she wants Jonah to live with her and Sam, and then while the woman lies down and Rosie reads to her, Grace dies.
At the funeral a man appears, and it is obvious that this man is Jonah’s real father. Apparently, Grace left the town where they lived when she fell pregnant as she would have been scorned for having a baby out of wedlock. Now Odikinyi has his own family, a wife and children, and he would like Jonah to live with him, but he tells the boy that it is his calling whether he decides to stay with him or return to England. Then Sam talks to the man about how sick Jonah is, so in the end Odikinyi returns to his family, leaving a letter for Jonah, telling him that he can visit him any time he wants but his place is in England.
I love the last chapters when we see Jonah settling down, having his treatment, and finally Rosie and Sam adopt him. The boy has finally accepted Sam and Rosie as his parents, and it is also clear that things have improved between the couple. The last chapter takes place on Christmas Day, and the family is in Wales. Jonah, his new parents, and Grandma Flick take part in some special ceremony for Grace’s death. The boy has written a letter to her and placed it inside a bottle, which he throws to the sea. Rosie also throws the petals of a sunflower in the water. It is a very nice picture with Jonah with his family, and I love when Rosie admits that it is true that a mother doesn’t cancel the other one out as there is never too much for a child. That Christmas Day in Wales Alice, who has become Jonah’s best friend, comes to celebrate the day with her father. They are just a copy of what Rosie and Sam used to be when they were their age.
I really enjoyed the book. It made me cry and smile. The only part I thought should have been left out is the inclusion of Jonah’s father there.
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