When We Meet Again by Kristin Harmel
Gallery Books, 2016
When Emily Emerson is laid off from her reporting job, she thinks she has lost everything—until she receives a beautiful, haunting painting of a young woman, recognizable as her grandmother, standing at the edge of a sugarcane field under a violet sky. A handwritten note accompanying the image simply says, “He always loved her.” When she begins to dig, Emily uncovers a trail of romance between German POWs working for American farmers in Florida and local women. But how does this sentimental war-time history connect to the painting? The search for answers will send Emily to the sweltering Everglades, to history-laden Munich, and back to her own Atlanta art scene.
In When We Meet Again, Kristin Harmel tackles the touchy subject of “generational sin,” or the continuation of undesirable traits through multiple generations, with transparency and sensitivity. While protagonist Emily can identify many of her failings right from the beginning of the story, she has also become practiced at pointing out her father’s failings. Readers see a generational pattern of shifting blame before Emily does. Throughout the book, other characters also deal with their faults while being aware of similar ancestral weaknesses.
One more theme of this powerful story is our untamable desire to hold loved ones close—and the depth of our pain when we cannot. Readers will cheer when characters admirably stand up for the rights of people previously trod on.
But the central theme of When We Meet Again is one of regeneration. It is never too late to start over. It is never too late to try again and chart a fresh path, regardless of family history. Consider this scene toward the end of the book, when Emily is speaking with her grandfather’s friend, Ingrid:
“We are a result of what our parents make us, unless we stop the progression, aren’t we?” Ingrid asked. “Knowing that your father hasn’t coped well with feelings, well, it leads me to guess that he was raised by someone who shut her emotions away.”
“Yes, maybe,” I whispered, thinking of the way that although I knew my grandmother loved me, she would often drift away midsentence, her face going blank. I had often wondered where she was vanishing to, but now I knew. I wondered if my father’s childhood had been filled with moments where he was right on the cusp of receiving his mother’s love, and then she simply drifted. It would explain a lot.
“And you do that, too? Shut your feelings away?” Ingrid asked. She didn’t wait for an answer before adding, “Your grandfather was that way, you know … Easier to feel nothing than to feel the pain of loss each day.”
When We Meet Again is written in a time-split style. The chapters alternate between two related stories, each told in chronological order but in different time periods. While many time-split style books can be a stretch for readers to keep up with, When We Meet Again is comfortably presented. I recommend this memorable book as an excellent introduction to Kristin Harmel’s talented storytelling.
Reader, who do you look forward to meeting again?
