Just Once. Karen Kingsbury. 2023. 336 pages. [Source: Library]
First sentence: Red was the last color, the very last. That's what Dr. Edmonds was saying. Irvel Myer's mind would splinter and fracture and fade under the burden of Alzheimer's, and she would forget the love that long ago caused her world to stop and stare in awe.
Just Once is a story with framework. The outer frame is Irvel and Hank recording their love story with a personal camcorder in 1989. Irvel has recently been diagnosed with dementia/Alzheimer's. The couple wants to record their love story for each other--something to view together on good days and bad--and for their children, grandchildren, etc. These tape(s) become lost but are rediscovered by either a grandchild? a great-grandchild? The inner frame, the "main" story, the heart and soul of the novel, is a series of flashbacks. These flashbacks follow Irvel and Hank during the 1930s and 1940s.
This has a "Notebook" like feel to it, but it is so much better--in a way. Less drama/trauma. Less smut. I enjoyed Irvel and Hank in both timeframes. I did. They were delightful characters. The book is strongest when it it sharing the romance. The book is weakest, however, when sharing details about their work during the Second World War. Which is fine. No complaints that I didn't feel historically grounded in the war details. Some books you do, some books you don't. The romance was strong.
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