Two of my favorite novels this year are warm and uplifting, and the other is dark. But I loved them all. They all stuck with me, living inside my soul for longer than I expected, and that is really all I can ask for from a good novel.

The Winner: Musical Chairs

Honorable Mentions: I read Oona Out of Order early in the year, and it’s a good novel to dive into around this time of year. Oona is smart and a lot of fun, and reading about her living her life the way she does makes you think a lot differently about how we spend our years. My other shoutout goes to Everyone Knows How Much I Love You. Maybe it should be in the thriller category, but I felt like it was more than that. Like The Talented Mr. Ripley by the talented Ms. Patricia Highsmith, the main character lives on in your psyche way past the end of the book. It’s dark, unlike the other two novels I’ve highlighted here, but it’s powerful.

Bridget has her summer planned out. After a busy year of playing her cello in the Forsyth trio—a chamber music group she’s been a part of since Julliard—she is going to her house in Connecticut to relax. She is taking her 2 cats, and her boyfriend Sterling will be joining her. He thinks the quiet country life will be perfect place to work on his novel. They won’t be completely alone, as Bridget’s best friend and musical partner Will plans to visit on occasion, and her father lives just down the road.

But life rarely goes as planned.

Instead, Bridget, slightly electrocuted and dumped by Sterling, finds herself hosting her 2 grown children, her son’s 2 dogs, goats, chickens, a local handyman, Will and his new girlfriend, and her father’s new assistant while also juggling her 90-year-old father’s incredible news and trying to find a new violinist for the Trio.

The summer certainly doesn’t go as Bridget planned, but it went exactly as she needed.

Musical Chairs is a symphony of delights, from the bucolic setting to the varied and never dull cast of characters to the intricate dance of relationships that develop and grow over the course of the summer. Author Amy Poeppel has brought together this beautiful cacophony of random pieces that all somehow blend into a beautiful masterpiece. It crackles with the excitement of a conductor just raising his baton, ebbing and flowing, waxing and waning, hitting all the right notes all along the way.

This is exactly the book I needed right now. It’s no secret that this is a difficult year, and apparently I needed some time on a farm with a crazy group of family and friends. This charming, warm, uplifting novel opened my heart and reminded me of the power of letting go of trying to control things, following my heart, and believing in the serendipity of the universe to make things right again.

(Also, I can’t wait for the movie of this, to see just how a team of fabulous designers make that—being vague here to avoid spoilers—event with those outfits in that place—come to life on screen! Hollywood, please make this happen for me!)

Egalleys for Musical Chairs were provided by Atria Books/Emily Bestler Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.