Four Weekends and a Funeral by Ellie Palmer is an indescribably stunning debut that will be hard to forget for anyone who reads it. In more ways than one, it’s, first and foremost, a story that centers around healing and carefully places love at the forefront in a way that feels both familiar and refreshing.
From the first page to the last, Palmer does something extraordinary as she tells a story that navigates through grief with the early stages of realizing that someone you thought you knew could, in fact, surprise you. With this, Ally and Adam’s story becomes a testament to healing and an exhibition of acceptance. As their banter leads to more vulnerability and moments of tenderness stretch out onto the page, the story takes its wings as a meticulously crafted romance where we know the couple will survive long after we’ve closed the book.
Additionally, while some readers hesitate with stories that are written from a single point of view, Palmer’s means of doing so is exceptional in Four Weekends and a Funeral. It never once feels like we’re missing crucial elements without Adam’s perspective, and at the same time, it cements why this story needed to be told through Ally’s experiences. As a carrier of BRCA1, readers have to understand her struggles, guilt, and heartaches through an intimate perspective for the acceptance portion to work. And through every beat, Palmer ensures that it is. There’s not a moment in the novel that doesn’t feel thoroughly earned.
Four Weekends and a Funeral might not be a light, stakes-free romantic comedy, but it’s a significant romance in every way. It’s about overcoming the perils brought on by grief to cope with all the pain that often leaves characters feeling like something is missing. So much of the book features Sam, Ally’s deceased ex-boyfriend and Adam’s best friend, as a catalyst for the characters to understand that they can’t get over grief, but they must get through it. And in their healing journey, how they come together can only be described as a breathtaking tapestry that binds soulmates together.
I kept wondering how Palmer would bring Ally and Adam to the point of wanting more from each other, and it happens with such organic tension that it floored me. This was never going to be an easy, breezy road, but that’s precisely what makes their romance so evocative. Every argument, every confusing roadblock, every breathtaking beat of longing makes them the type of couple that’s effortless to root for. The story is so tender and so beautifully sincere that even with the heavier elements, my heart felt like it was gleefully soaring.
Four Weekends and a Funeral by Ellie Palmer is, in short, uniquely comforting. It’s a captivatingly warm story that’ll undoubtedly touch hearts and feel like a balm to countless readers. In every way where it matters, it’s the kind of romance we could always use more of.
Four Weekends and a Funeral by Ellie Palmer is now available wherever books are sold.
First Featured Image | Official Cover Credit: ©G.P. Putnam’s Sons | Ellie Palmer