Today it is my pleasure to bring you my review of Walking on Sunshine by Giovanna Fletcher.

In the darkness, we all need a little light . . .

________

After Mike loses Pia, his partner of seventeen years, their best friends Vicky and Zaza try to help pick up the pieces.

But though Pia’s gone, she left a plan. A list of loving instructions to help Mike and her friends come to terms with their loss.

And they’re each going to need it . . .

Just-engaged Zaza fears committing any further.

Exhausted mother and wife Vicky has lost sight of herself.

While Mike just feels all the colour has gone from his life.

When the list sends them trekking to Peru, where high mountains and sweltering rainforests push them to the brink, all they have to guide them is their faith in Pia and in themselves.

But will they learn that anything is possible when you’re walking on sunshine?

I’ve always enjoyed Giovanna Fletchers novels, so I was very excited to get my hands on her latest offering, Walking on Sunshine.

Mike, Pia, Zaza and Vicky have been the best of friends forever. When they lose Pia, the remaining three are united in their grief whilst struggling to maintain their lives individually. Mike is drowning; Pia was the light of his life and without her, he just cannot see a way forward. Zaza has recently got engaged, but she still finds herself struggling to commit, even though she knows she should. And Vicky is a wife and mother, both of which are roles that she loves but she just cannot seem to find herself.

The one thing I will say is that I felt that Walking on Sunshine is quite different to Giovanna’s other novels. When the theme of a novel centres around grief, it’s quite difficult to keep the story light. What Giovanna achieves is a story about a difficult subject, whilst bringing a lightness to the friendships that this novel centres on. That is what this story is really about – friendship. Walking on Sunshine definitely wasn’t what I was expecting it to be, but I loved it all the same. Mike, Zaza and Vicky are all truly there for each other, united by their love of Pia, their long standing friendship grows more as they grieve together. By opening up to each other on their Peruvian trek they are able to open themselves up when they return home to their loved ones.

This is such a great novel, and I am very happy to recommend it to you all. It’s a moving novel full of love and friendship, so go and grab yourself a copy and let me know what you think!

Thank you to Penguin and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this novel.