x

What a lovely book. The Flight of Gemma Hardy depicts the story of a young girl named, Gemma, who became orphaned at a young age. Her uncle took her in as a promise from his sister, Agnes.who is Gemma's mother. Throughout the entire book, Gemma's life wasn't easy. She always had to struggle to survive. At a young age, she knew how hard life can be. How cruel people can be. But she surpassed all of it. Stand against the current. Stand firmly on what she believes in.

Witnessing Emma's journey, from being a child to a grown woman, I cannot help but reflect on my own. This book depicts a girl who have faced a lot of difficulties at a young age through her teenage years until being a young adult. I cannot help but admire Emma's courage of standing on her own. She is an independent, smart woman capable of enduring any hardships thrown at her. A great read!

“Once again I glimpsed the way in which departure ripped the veil from ordinary life, revealing things that were normally kept hidden.” ― Margot Livesey, The Flight of Gemma Hardy

"This tableau - David behind a window, Maggie just outside - constituted part of the same choreography of punishment and encouragement that defined each of Maggie's visits over the next few weeks, and raised in William's mind questions about what inventive stupidities people were capable of when wounded and confused, no matter their native intelligence. No matter their love for each other." - Howard Norman, Devotion

***

The moment when you know that you will save a book for a later read because you know it's good. And when you already did read it, you had this great sense of satisfaction of getting it right.

Guess what? 

I had that moment!

I was only scanning book titles and covers at a thrift bookstore, anticipating of at least one great find. Then, I got a glimpse of that particular seducing thick green book,and the book told me that: if you ignore me, you will regret it. Thankfully though, at that time although hesitant at first, I did not. Instead, I grab a hold of it, secure it in my palms, and I bought it!!! (And, yes, no regrets there...)

“Know the hazards of lending and borrowing with friends.” 

“You need a little bit of the crazy to keep things fun.”  

“I simply never found a specific club that I could bring myself to be passionate about. I was having enough trouble finding one person to be passionate about, let alone a whole club!”  

“The character doesn't even come out until people are tested and be put in extreme situations and most people spend their lives trying to avoid those kinds of situations.”  

“Don't sit back and be a bystander of your own life”

I blinked away the unwelcome moisture in my eyes. I didn't know how much more of this I could stand. How did anyone survive this world, with these bodies whose memories wouldn't stay in the past where they should? With these emotions that were so strong I couldn't tell what I felt anymore?