Mrs. Nash’s Ashes by Sarah Adler

 

Reviewed by Kristin

Millie, a former child star all grown up, goes on a pilgrimage to take the remains of Rose McIntyre Nash, her elderly best friend, to be reunited with her one true love. Nothing could go wrong, right?

Wrong.

In the Washington DC airport, flights are suddenly grounded due to a computer glitch. Everyone, and I mean everyone is suddenly scrambling for alternative travel arrangements. Millie is about to share a ride with a stranger (but Mike was so nice and he has dogs at home!) but a grumpy friend of a friend who just happens to have been booted from the same flight steps in, and insists that it won’t be a problem for Millie to ride to Miami with him. Grumpily insists, that is, as is Hollis’ usual temperament.

Enter the olive oil spill on a major highway, dark back roads, a deer, a bed and breakfast, 25 framed Jesuses, and the Gadsley Broccoli Festival.

Hollis is a cynic and doesn’t believe in true love, but there is a spark between him and Millie. In the usual rom-com kind of way, their companionship develops into something more…but what lies in wait at the end of this roadtrip?

The story alternates between Millie’s present predicament, the friendship she shared with Mrs. Nash before her recent passing, and the love story that blossomed in 1944 wartime between a young Rose and Elsie. Both sweet and spicy, this was an enjoyable trip through the country and through the lives of the characters.