In Five Years by Rebecca Serle

You know that question you often get asked in job interviews, “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?”

Danni was asked that question when she went after her dream job at the biggest legal firm in town. She had her answer ready too, but there was no way she could be prepared for what would really happen.

She nailed the interview and was certain she would get the job. Her fiancé wanted to celebrate, but she ended up passing out early in the night. She awoke in a different place with a different ring on her finger, and with a different man in what was obviously her apartment. It didn’t make sense, but something felt right about it all. This was her life, five years from now. And it was nothing like she had planned.

She spent one hour in the future and then woke up back in her regular old life. Was it just a dream? Who was that guy? And why would she be living in that part of town? It didn’t really mesh with her five year plan.

If you know me, you know I love to run. So I identified with this passage of the book . . .

“Running does all the things for me it does for everyone else—clears my head, gives me time to think, makes my body feel good and loose. But it also has the added benefit of taking me places. When I first moved to the city I could only afford to live in Hell’s Kitchen, but I wanted to be everywhere. So I ran.”

Here is Danni’s take on marriage . . .

“This is what marriage is, I know. Tiffs and comfortability, miscommunications and long stretches of silence. Years and years of support and care and imperfection. I thought we’d be long married by now. But I find, as I sit there, that a hitch of relief hits me when David still doesn’t have the rabbi’s information. Maybe he’s still a step away, too.”

She really loves her job and a co-worker has this to say about it . . .

“You are not wrong for loving what you do,” he says. “You are lucky. Life doesn’t hand everyone a passion in their profession; you and I won that round.”

This wasn’t a science fiction novel. The only time travel happened at the very start of the novel. Then it was up to Danni to rush toward it or avoid it.

This book was a great read. I felt like I wanted to rush through it to get to the point where her life caught up to her flash-forward. Was it just a vision? Was that her actual future? I won’t spoil it for you though. You’ll have to read it yourself.

My List of 2020 Reads – my annual reading (b)log