Helga Flatland – One Last Time

‘One Last Time’ by Helga Flatland is a contemporary fiction book published by the fabulous Orenda Books. I have never read any of Helga Flatlands books before but was really looking forward to this one. The cover is gorgeous and hints at the beautifully written pages inside the book.

It tells the story of three generations of women: Anne, her daughter Sigrid and finally Sigrid’s daughter Mia. The narration alternates between Anne and Sigrid. They have their issues between themselves with Sigrid stating that her mother is a better grandmother than she ever was a mother. Sigrid’s feelings may be valid as she feels her mother was more of an absent mother for her when she needed Anne. We see Anne who never wanted children anyway and was so busy looking after her disabled husband she felt she had nothing left to give her daughter. I do think she shouldn’t have told a teenage Sigrid that she didn’t want any kids to start off. That will never be forgotten.
Both women realise they need to sort everything out with each other, sooner rather than later, when Anne is diagnosed with cancer and they discover it won’t be a happy ever after for them.

‘Old habits die hard’ they say and it is certainly true for these two women. We see Sigrid holding her true emotions all inside and giving her mother the calm, cool side she has. I was trying to telepathically tell her to show her real self. She has a mask and it is for self-preservation but this is something she was so used to doing it is hard to allow herself to be vulnerable. I really felt emotional myself as my mother was given a 33% chance of living five years due to cancer also and this story hooked into my memories of how I felt then. So well written.

A book that balances the story so perfectly that it never really gets you too far down. Helga Flatland along with the translator of course Rosie Hedger, who has expertly translated Helga’s words with every nuance left in place has created a story that just oozes love and empathy throughout. She has even managed to add a dash of humour.

Such a beautiful story with characters I wanted to hug the life out of. I was easily immersed in this touching story and couldn’t surface until I was done.

Thanks to Anne Cater and Orenda Books for the copy of the book for my unbiased opinion today.