A Woman with a Magic Ticket
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This is the 4th book I have read by Rebecca Serle. All of them were Magical Realism which is a genre of fiction that incorporates a fantastic element into otherwise realistic fiction. The books are fun to read and I recommend all of them. By the end of this story I will mention all four, but let’s start with the newest book, Once and Again.
Lauren is the star of this show and there are three main plot lines around her. The first is her marriage to Leo and their struggles with infertility. The second is her relationship with her family of origin. And the third is the magical element – Lauren and the women of her family receive a ticket at birth that allows them one do-over in life. They can turn back the hands of time to erase some part of their history that is troubling.
Exploring all this further, Lauren was the only child of Dave and Marcella, and they all lived together with Marcella’s mom, Sylvia, in Malibu. Lauren comments that in some families with just one child, the threesome of parents and child become the main entity. But in her family, she felt more like an outsider to the very close relationship her parents shared.
Thus she finds herself more allied with her grandmother than her mom. She calls her grandmother “G-money” and says this is probably because of the extra allowance the grandmother used to give her in childhood. But the origin of the money the family seems to have – as indicated by the beach-front home in Malibu – is a mystery for most of the novel.
Thanks to the fertility issues, there is strain on Lauren and Leo’s marriage and on their bank account. He is a DP – a director of photographer – and when he is offered an important gig on a new show set in New York, he thinks he should take it and that Lauren should go live at the beach with her family. They could then turn their place in West Hollywood into an Airbnb to make some money over the summer.
And so that is what happens and as Lauren cohabitates with her folks and grandmother, lots of secrets are revealed – including the experiences of four generations of women with a magic ticket.
Like pondering what we’d do if we won the lottery, this book gives readers a fun what-if to consider.
As for Rebecca Serle’s other books with Magical Realism, here are her books in order with a notation about the bit of magic that takes place within them. I have also listed the publication date of each book as Serle seems to “magically” put out a new book every other year and always in March.
- In Five Years was published March 10, 2020. In it, a woman named Dannie gets engaged to a guy named David and falls asleep after having too much celebratory champagne only to wake up five years into the future married to someone else! Was it a crazy dream? Because just as quickly, she sleeps and wakes again where she finds herself back with David.
- One Italian Summer was published March 1, 2022. In it, a young woman and her mother – two women who have a very close relationship – were supposed to travel to a place in Italy that was beloved by the mom. When the mom dies, the daughter takes the trip alone and in so doing, meets her mother as a young woman.
- This next book, Expiration Dates, was published March 19, 2024. It is the story of a young woman named Daphne. She is single, but searching for love. Magically, whenever she meets a new guy and goes on a date with him, she receives a note that tells her how long her relationship with the new person will last.
- I’ve already told you about the newest book, Once and Again, except to mention that it arrived March 10, 2026.
I don’t know about you, but I am counting down to March, 2028. Can’t wait to see what Rebecca Serle dreams up for her next novel.
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Click here to learn more about Once and Again on Amazon.
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If you like my writing, I hope you will check out my new book, Chai on Life. It contains 36 slice-of-life stories ranging in topics from belly fat to Billy Joel. It is available wherever books are sold and on Amazon. There is even a companion journal for you to write the stories of your life.
Chai on Life is available in 3 formats: Hard Back, Kindle, and AudioBook.
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