Book Review: "Seven Days in June" by Tia Williams

I knew at first blurb read “Seven Days in June” was the novel that I should take with me for my cruise vacation. It was 325 pages of deliciousness. I read it in two days.  One day I read for over five hours, that led me to the wee hours of the morning under moonlight until it was done. I felt like I’d devoured a full Thanksgiving meal, needing to lean back in the chair with a slouch to make room for my very full stomach, as I looked in the kitchen for more that I could nosh on slowly. 

“Seven Days in June” chronicles the reunion of main characters Eva Mercy and Shane Hall at a Black author star-studded panel event.  As Tia Williams weaves the story, she takes us through the dark past they shared as teenagers, serving as the other’s lifelines and raison d’etre. Shane Hall shows up in the story wanting to reveal and apologize for a secret that had been kept hidden for the years they were apart. Over the course of seven days, Eva and Shane discover, uncover, and recovers the love for each other that was shrouded in old childhood pain. 

In turning the last page of the story, I instantly wanted to read it over again.  Not only did Tia Williams masterfully weave the story, but she also presented characters that were both relatable and lovable.  As one who looks for the bane and beauty of African American life and love, I was thoroughly enamored by Tia’s ability to show the complexities of approaching past hurts and pain in self, family, and love. In life, there are moments where the love story is going towards that happy ending, and due to the fear of the inner narrative, the hoped for love defers, defaulting to the attitudes and habits that pain helps us become comfortable offered by its measured predictability. Williams takes the reader through the lovely messiness of acknowledging and allowing forgiveness of self and others, while pardoning the past towards having the envisioned happiness desired. 

If you are a reader that has patience for the romantic slow burn, with the allowance to question your own in-progress healing of pain in self, family issues, and love, then this is a story that will stick to your ribs for weeks after-read. I laughed. I hmmmmd. I nodded in agreement with the understanding of how the same issues raises its head in my own life. I highly recommend supporting this author who writes with an intimate pulse in healing our ideas and ideals of integrating the lessons learned and accepted healing in self and intimate relationships.