Two love stories, separated by a century, woven together to reveal the enduring power of the human spirit and the timelessness of soulful connection.
Cora and her husband, Emerson, built a high-powered and alluring life in New York City. Yet a spiritual yearning stirs within Cora, leading her on an unexpected journey to teach at a serene retreat center up north. There, she has a synchronistic encounter with Kai, a profound and illuminating man who has secrets to share.
Kaiâs magnetic presence gives Cora a glimpse into infinity, and though it takes time to discover what this means for her soul, one thing is for certain: their story doesnât start or end there. We learn about a mystical and entwined history through retellings from the dawn of the 20th century, with a fate built by both love and tragedy.
With a heart navigating a dichotomy of longings, Cora is left at an impossible crossroads: to follow her deepest desires and the echoes of an infinite love, or to embrace the life she has built, leaving eternity for another time.
Two love stories, separated by a century, woven together to reveal the enduring power of the human spirit and the timelessness of soulful connection.
Cora and her husband, Emerson, built a high-powered and alluring life in New York City. Yet a spiritual yearning stirs within Cora, leading her on an unexpected journey to teach at a serene retreat center up north. There, she has a synchronistic encounter with Kai, a profound and illuminating man who has secrets to share.
Kaiâs magnetic presence gives Cora a glimpse into infinity, and though it takes time to discover what this means for her soul, one thing is for certain: their story doesnât start or end there. We learn about a mystical and entwined history through retellings from the dawn of the 20th century, with a fate built by both love and tragedy.
With a heart navigating a dichotomy of longings, Cora is left at an impossible crossroads: to follow her deepest desires and the echoes of an infinite love, or to embrace the life she has built, leaving eternity for another time.
February 1902
I have never seen a grey sky like this one.
I have seen grey skies that hung like a blanket, smooth and heavy and formed from misty air. I have seen crisp grey skies that spoke of the promise of first snow, the clouds telling stories of shifting seasons. I have seen electric grey skies, sparking and tinted with deep blue, the tiny hairs on your arms upright and swaying to its rhythm.
And then, there is this grey.Â
It doesnât hang in the air, and it doesnât deliver electric promise. It just moves around me, ominous and inexhaustible, permeating air and breath and bone. Inching inward until my heart squeezes. Until my lungs are threatened.
Itâs a grey that has been stretched thin with time, but somehow, still embodies the same density it did on that day.Â
I had never seen a grey sky like this one. But now, it never leaves.
The time is half past four. The in-between. A day nearly gone by, but not quite. An evening peering from beyond the horizon. The only color outside of the monotone is the starchy movement of my midnight blue petticoat, brushing the cobblestone. The only sound the heels of my boots with their clank, clank.Â
Clank, clank.Â
Iâve lived in this town for most of my life. An eighth mile stretch of road contains every storefront on Main Street, and I know every fissure in every exterior wall, every octave of bell that rings over every threshold, every smile from every store clerk and what each one holds. Because a smile is always much more than a smile.
Mr. Hutchinsonâs is the smile I am on my way to see, but how I wish he wouldnât offer it up. It is filled with far too many of the things we donât say, try to smother behind curved lip. The General Store had been propped up on a small hill at the end of the road since as far back as I can remember. Mr. Hutchinson has always been there. Didnât miss a day for the birth of his daughter. Or his son. Has not missed a day during these dark times, and we all wonder if his superior work ethic somehow keeps him safe. Resilient. But I think it is something more than that, somehow.
Mr. Hutchinson had always been kind to us. The ring of the bell over his door has always been the most pleasing, with a hum to it that is nostalgic. When it rings this time, he looks up. Smiles.
âMs. Juliette. What a pleasant surprise.â
He places his wrinkled palms flat down on the aged wood countertop and holds them there.
âGood to see you, Mr. Hutchinson.â I nod my head and once
inside, pull the hood of my petticoat down.
âIt has been a while,â he says, making his way around the counter, taking one of my hands between both of his. âWill it be the usual?â
It stings when he says it and we just let it hang there. Will it be the usual? Heâs said that same thing, maybe hundreds of times. Every time. But this time, nothing is usual, and we both know it.Â
Mostly, weâd just come to look. Find joy in the small shop, the kind man behind the counter who we called a friend, the eccentric little treasures that would make their way on trade from small villages much further away than weâd ever travel. This was the usual. It was usual for us.Â
Now, there is no us. There is only me.
I take my hand back and return the kindness with a small smile of my own. My face feels rusty, however, and I immediately regret it. I walk to the counter. There is a rectangular alcove covered by glass that lines its center, and inside, I see itâholding the light just right.
I move my finger slowly over the glass. âIâd like to purchase this.â
Mr. Hutchinsonâs skin bunches up and brings his eyebrows to the center of his forehead. âPurchase it, Ms. Juliette?â
âYes, please.â I step back, giving him room to unlock the glass enclosure. I dip my hand into my pocket and the coins make a jangling sound as I gather them. âI have enough,â I say, opening my palm and offering them up.
He cups his hands as I drop them in and stands there for moments, unsure of how to proceed. I nod, shaking him from his trance, and he moves to retrieve it, just as he did the last time.
He lifts it gingerly, because anyone could see how tender the moment is for me. He drapes it over my outstretched fingers, and for a
moment, it dangles there, suspended in its in-betweenâwhat once was and what would be.Â
Mr. Hutchinson is gazing silently as I gather the necklace in my palm in a heap of delicate metal, touch it with the tip of my index finger and watch the hair-thin golden threads move around each other.
âMr. Hutchinson?â I look up, eyes hollow, but still, reflecting more life than they have in some time. âI wonder if you might be able to help me with something else.â
He nods. âWhat can I do for you?â
I dip my hand into my pocket. Hold it there.Â
âIâd like to add a gemstone to this necklace. I know you have an expert hand.â
He bites the inside of his mouth. âI have not worked with such delicate gold in some time. Have you considered journeying into the city center? The jewelers are most trustworthy. I have met them all myself.â
I walk closer to him, my voice a whisper. âTrust is what I am looking for, most of all. And that is why Iâve come to you.â I pull my hand from my pocket, grasp a small black pouch. I place the necklace down on the counter to free my hands, and open its drawstring, carefully extracting the treasure. I hold it at first between two fingers, and then let it rest on my outstretched palm.
Mr. Hutchinsonâs eyes widen, and then turn into small slits, inspecting the iridescent item that rests there.
âIt canât be,â he says. âHow?â
 âI found it. I know itâs hard to believe, but I found it, down
by the creek.â
âDo you have any idea?â he asks me. âAny idea how rare this is? And not just in these parts.â
I move my palm slowly from side to side, watching the colors swirl in its marbleized off-white sheen. âI have some idea.â
âThey are mighty rare, Ms. Juliette. Hardly any to be found to begin with. And then they were hunted to smithereens. Why, thatâs fit for a queen, I tell you. I bet itâs worth more than this whole town and the two towns over. All the homes and shops and streets and gems combined.â
My eyes mist over, my throat clenches. âItâs worth more than all of it, to me.â
Mr. Hutchinson quiets, softens, his eyes knowing. He shakes his head slowly, from side to side, and exhales in his gentle way. âItâs a
miracle. Thatâs what it is.â
âShe wouldnât have it any other way,â I whisper.
He gestures me forward, stretches out his own hand. âMay I?â
I nod, placing my whole Universe there on his palm.
âTrust me, Ms. Juliette. Your secret is safe with me.â I hand him the pouch, and he places the pearl carefully inside. âI will give this all the soul I have,â he promises, and I know that he will.
Spoilers: Here's a theme from two years ago: reincarnated lovers reunited in modern day, reveling in their timeless love and weighing whether they should be together in the current timeline. This time, it is captured by Jillian Rose in her Romance/Magical Realism novel, For All of Us. Technically, Roseâs version is nothing new, but it is a spiritually centered and captivating character driven novel. I suppose like its lovers, the theme itself is timeless, that love never dies and that there may be some existence beyond physical death.
Cora is a Yoga instructor, seemingly happily married to Emerson, an architect. She is assigned by Emersonâs partner, Natasha, to teach at the Catskills Retreat Center to encourage creativity and unity among their co-workers. Neither Emerson nor Natasha can come but Cora is sure that she can handle it. While there, she meets the participants in the class and the Retreat staff, particularly its owner, Kai. As she spends time with Kai, she begins to feel an emotional and spiritual connection that causes her to evaluate her marriage and realize that there are things that were unsaid and unacknowledged between her and Emerson. While this is going on, there is another story set in the early 20th Century about a couple named Juliette and Asher who fall in love and have a child, Pearl, before going through a devastating loss. In the present, Cora and Kai share memories of Juliette and Asher, further complicating their relationships both past and present.
There are some moments where the Reader feels a sense of spiritual calm. The chapters at the Retreat are filled with moments like these. Cora and Kai take walks in the woods and mountains and their senses are activated by the nature surrounding them. Coraâs classes are lessons in poses as well as mindfulness and transcendence.
These classes and her time at the Retreat benefits her as well as her students. Cora and Emerson suffered tremendous loss in their life, one that they don't talk about but causes a strain in their marriage. They keep the pain and sadness locked away and never acknowledge it. But the more that they don't talk about it, the more it pulls on them revealing the fractures between their happy facade. It is only in the safety of the Retreat and communicating with Kai that Cora finds the catharsis and emotional release that she needed.Â
It also is at the Retreat in which Cora and Kai awaken their past life memories as Juliette and Asher. Now I will admit that while I don't necessarily dislike reincarnated lovers tropes, I have however seen times when it is done badly. Bram Stokerâs Dracula for example. Just because they were lovers in one life does not mean that they are entitled to be together in the current one. Let's not forget about things like consent and they may already be in a loving relationship. Where many people saw Gary Oldman speaking passionately about âcrossing oceans of time,â I just saw a sexual predator who raped, assaulted, and brutalized a woman that he felt entitled to have because she resembled his dead wife.
I have also seen reincarnated lovers as a trope done with the theme that just because you were happy in one life or thought that you were, doesn't mean that you really were or guaranteed to be in the current one. Nikki Broadwellâs novel, Rosemary for Remembrance is a brilliant take on that in which a married couple live simultaneous lives in the 19th and mid-20th century and get all the baggage that comes with it including the arguments, infidelity, incompatible personalities, separations, trauma and so on.Â
Actually Roseâs novel contains that as well when both Cora and Juliette suffer similar deaths in their lives. Those simultaneous moments of grief, anguish, and the aftermath on how both women and the men in their lives deal with the tragedies in different ways are some of the highlights.
What saves For All of Us from falling into the simplistic style of reincarnated lovers done badly is that Jillian Rose does not shy away from the actual consequences that occur when the lovers are reunited. If they are in another relationship, someone is going to get hurt. Also just because they resemble that person and share those memories doesn't mean that they necessarily are that specific identity. They are an entirely different person with different current memories, have been through different experiences, and have a different personality than the one who went on before.
For All of Us knows about this conflict because exploring Coraâs complex feelings towards Kai and Emerson. It's not a binary âeither orâ choice. They are both great guys. While yes she recognizes that there are unspoken cracks in her marriage, that doesn't make Emerson an irredeemable monster, just a flawed human being. One that acknowledges those flaws and is willing to work on them.Â
What helps this particular version is the care that Rose shows all parties in this situation: Cora, Kai, Emerson, and even Natasha who is also affected by these events (and of course Juliette and Asher). They are well written with no direct protagonist/antagonist conflict. They also strive to be their most honest authentic selves in their relationships and finally reach that point with each other. They are paired not just by passion, love, or previous memories but by that honesty and authenticity.