The more I look around in life, the more dysfunctional families I see. Thus, it was very comfortable and comforting to live within the pages of this book for a few days, because family love and warmth radiate from its chapters.
This is the story of Talia Green, a successful wedding planner in Michigan who began sharing her work online via social media. Her shtick was to show floral centerpieces, place setting arrangements, the before-and-after photos of wedding venues, etc. Before long, she started doing tutorials and she even added glimpses of her own life. It was all wildly successful. She went from a few thousand followers to a few hundred thousand, to nearly a million, making her a social media influencer in the wedding industry.
As the book opens, she is in a relationship with the perfect guy. Well, with the seemingly perfect guy, Xander. It is the month of December and she is about to surprise him with a Maltese puppy for a holiday present. She is live streaming to her fans as she enters their shared apartment to give him the gift. However, there is a bigger surprise waiting for her in their bedroom — a romantic interlude between Xander and Claire, a good friend of Talia’s.
As Talia comes to decode the scene before her eyes, she begins to sob. Only then does she realize that she has been filming the whole experience. She is mortified to realize that her live stream video has gone viral.
For the holiday, Talia had planned a Caribbean cruise with Xander, but instead, she leaves him behind in Chicago and flees to Cleveland, which is home. There, she is literally and figuratively embraced by family. There is her brother, Jonah, whose “bear hugs are the best.” He has a wife, Deborah, and six-year-old twin daughters, Ruby and Eva. Since Jonah and Deborah have been together since high school, Deborah is like a sister to Talia. And then there is her actual sister, Leah, who is a resident at Cleveland Clinic. It seems like her hugs are pretty terrific as well.
And let’s not forget her mom and dad who pop open a bottle of Dom Perignon Vintage because there is “no better occasion than having [the] family all together.”
Talia arrives in Cleveland on December 18th, which is four days before Hanukkah. The chapters count down the days until the holiday starts, and then has a chapter for each of the eight nights. A lot happens within that time period, both with Xander, and with another man, Daniel Cohen.
Taking Xander first, in scads of text messages and phone messages, he seems to think he has a valid explanation for his actions with Claire. The reader knows from the get-go that he is deluded, but does Talia?
And then there is Daniel. He was Talia’s nemesis during ALL of her childhood years. His family lives across the street from Talia’s and the two sets of parents are close friends. The families attended the same synagogue and as kids, Talia and Daniel carpooled to Sunday School and Hebrew School. The families even vacationed together. Talia suffered through it all! Always and forever, he is the last person she’d befriend, much less consider romantically.
And still, here he is in Cleveland. All grown up and a successful attorney who is in the process of moving back home from Boston. Hmmm…what’s a girl to do?
It is in her childhood bedroom that Talia finds a jewelry box given to her by her much beloved — but deceased — grandmother. The box had originally been a gift from Talia’s grandfather to her grandmother, but the grandmother handed it down to Talia as a bat mitzvah gift. Talia used it as a trinket box. Among the things stored in it was a handmade journal that had also been a gift from her grandmother which she received when she was six years old. It was a “wish book,” and during her childhood, Talia used it to record one wish a night for each night of Hanukkah.
At this turning point in her life, as her dreams with Xander are crumbling, and her feelings for Daniel are scrambling her brain, Talia uses the journal to record a wish for each night of Hanukkah. This, of course, gives the book its title, “Eight Wishes,” and allows Talia to sort out her feelings.
The book turns out to be a charming romance that is fun and easy to read. But more than that, it is a beautiful story about a close-knit family and about a young woman whose takeaway from her family — and upbringing — is a strong moral compass to guide her.
Women of all ages will enjoy the story. The younger ones will gobble up the romance. The moms and grannies in the group will cheer for the personal and professional decisions Talia makes. And everyone will love the recipes offered at the back of the book. With a Jewish author and Jewish content, of course there are recipes for brisket and kugel, but I’m going to try the Kahlua Bars — the brownie base is made with a can of Hershey’s chocolate syrup!
Bottom line: There are lots of things to gobble up in this book! Give it a try.
