Tallulah (Tallie) Clark has finally been putting the pieces of her life back together after her divorce. Despite having her heart broken by her ex-husband, who had an affair and got his mistress pregnant even as he and Tallie were undergoing unsuccessful fertility treatments, Tallie has begun to bounce back. She has a thriving practice as one of the few Black therapists in Louisville, has a supportive family and loving friends nearby, loves her home (and her cats, Jim and Pam), and even has begun to think about adopting a baby on her own.

However, on a Thursday evening in late October, Tallie’s life changes in a flash. On her way across the bridge, she spots a man standing on the wrong side of the railing, appearing ready to jump. Nervous but capable, Tallie draws on all her training and eventually talks him off the ledge, into her car, to a diner and eventually to her home once she realizes he doesn’t have a place to stay.

"THIS CLOSE TO OKAY is a cozy novel... It’s full of soft couches and comfort food, easy conversations and growing friendships. But it’s also a challenging novel, especially once Emmett’s history is revealed."

The man, who calls himself Emmett, seems reluctant to talk too much about his life, so Tallie begins to gain his trust by opening up to him about her own life --- though she declines to reveal that she’s a therapist, instead inventing a career as a teacher. But she does confess to him about the end of her marriage, her desire to adopt a baby and more. Emmett does something rather unexpected with his new knowledge.

Tallie, perhaps inexplicably, trusts Emmett enough to invite him into her home for the entire weekend, while he comes to terms with what to do next, and how to reach out to his parents, who live in a small town in southern Kentucky and to whom he’s already mailed a suicide note. Emmett seems gentle and kind; he makes her delicious food and even agrees to accompany her to her brother’s Halloween party --- in costume. There’s no question that the two of them are attracted to one another. But would acting on those feelings mean crossing even more of a line?

Emmett, of course, is hiding secrets of his own, devastating ones that come to light after a near-tragedy strikes at that Halloween party. His true story, the circumstances that led him to that bridge on that fateful night, changes how Tallie feels about her own role in his story and what she and others owe to him going forward.

THIS CLOSE TO OKAY is a cozy novel, one that embodies the concept of “hygge” that Tallie strives to create in her own home. It’s full of soft couches and comfort food, easy conversations and growing friendships. But it’s also a challenging novel, especially once Emmett’s history is revealed. This tragic story is linked to bigger issues, such as racism and class privilege; those elements, along with the ethical concerns raised by both Emmett and Tallie’s actions, make the novel rich for discussion.

The book has a happy ending, even if it’s not the one that readers might expect. As Leesa Cross-Smith helpfully puts in an author’s note (which also includes a suicide prevention hotline number), “In life, I try my best to look for the light and to look for small mercies, even when things are dark and scary. It’s important for me to leave this book on that: a hopeful note.” THIS CLOSE TO OKAY offers a timely, thoughtful bit of hope in tough times.