A review by amateur_bookworm
A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams

hopeful mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

My summary: 
Ever the disappointment in her family, Ricki Wilde has dreams of opening her own flower shop. But her family owns the nationwide chain of Wilde Funeral Homes and all of her sisters have successfully followed in their father’s footsteps, with the expectation of Ricki doing the same. When she finally finds the nerve to reveal her grand idea to her family, they completely dismiss her and then her father effectively fires her. All hope seems lost for her dream to gain traction, until Ms. Della, a kind older woman, comes into the funeral home on one of Ricki’s last days there. Worried it’s too good to be true but out of options, Ricki takes up Ms. Della’s offer and moves to Harlem into the bottom floor apartment of Ms. Della’s building. As Ricki pours her heart into Wilde Things, her flower shop begins to grow and she is drawn to the magnetic Ezra Walker in an inexplicable way.

My thoughts:
This book is the perfect blend of romance and intrigue and magical realism. A vibrant blending of modern day with the Harlem Renaissance makes you feel like you’ve stepped right into the pages. 

This book is fantastic and I felt so drawn into it. I really didn’t know anything at all about the Harlem Renaissance during the Roaring 20s before picking this up and Tia Williams made this glimpse of it sound so incredible that I want to learn more about it. 

I love Ricki’s social awkwardness and wit. Ezra is maddeningly intriguing and I just couldn’t get enough of him. The mystery of his story is both tantalizing and infuriating. I love Ms. Della with her found family and guardian angel role in the story—and she gives us all someone to aspire to be like when we’re 96! Tuesday is also such a fun yet somewhat tragic character as a former famous child actress. 

I saw Tia Williams at a panel at the LA Times Festival of Books and I had never read any of her books before. And after hearing her talk—especially about the, ahem, piano scene—I knew I wanted to dive into this as soon as possible. 

Going into this book after hearing Tia talk about some of her inspiration for this book made it SO much better than just going in blind. Listening to her talk about not knowing flowers or pianos before this book, her previous work at magazines, and that she loved the idea of how exotic night-blooming jasmine sounded all made reading this such an incredibly richer experience for me. 

Go to author events. Or listen to podcasts featuring authors. Dive into the author’s story a bit before reading and all of it will really take your reading to a new level of enjoyment. 
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