What would happen if you could see your future and then make changes to the present that would ensure happiness? In Rebecca Serle’s book, In Five Years, the main character, Dannie, has mapped out her life, her love life and her future and totally believes this plan is the way to control all possible outcomes. As is often the case with this kind of over planning and control, “life” has other ideas. Blindsided by the news that Bella, her best friend, falls ill and this changes everything. Bella was the only person that Dannie allowed to really know her or see her with her protective walls down. Suddenly, Dannie is forced to live spontaneously and off her prescribed track. It is when Dannie allows herself to really look at her life while “off program” that she realizes that she is settling instead of really living. Serle lets us look at the results of allowing fear to control your life in order to avoid pain. We see the mistakes of the control and we are relieved when Dannie starts to open up her life and her heart to new possibilities. Serle uses a “dream” premonition to begin Dannie’s awakening, but we were not sure this literary trick was entirely necessary. The overall result of the novel was acceptable. This would be a good beach read.
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