When Sachi Kubo-Sanchez, unhappy and unfulfilled in her marriage, decides a change is in order, she determines to rediscover her love for life. “I thought this was life: as good as it gets. Then something shifted,” she muses, as, with the help of her boisterous friend, Anna, and her therapist, Sachi embarks on an intimate journey of self-discovery. She divorces her husband, commits to rekindling her passions, and steps out as a single mother in her 40s, in the bustling day-to-day of New York City, attempting to understand—and accept—her sexual desires while testing the waters of online dating.
Delving into the complex psyche of a middle-aged woman starting over, Uno creates a deeply relatable protagonist struggling to let go of her past. Therapy helps Sachi deal with unresolved sexual trauma from her youth while resurrecting her inner child—who she aptly names Sunshine—as she opens herself up to new ideas about life, sex, and relationships. Through family dynamics, self-awareness, and therapy, Uno’s thoughtful fiction debut explores the multitude of ways the outside world can influence one woman’s mental health, even as she makes a concerted effort to grow on her own terms.
Sachi’s story—often unfolding through Sunshine’s voice—quickly evolves into a broader pursuit of meaning and purpose, and readers will appreciate her raw and vulnerable honesty. As she wrestles with her inner demons—and experiments sexually—Sachi reawakens the buried forces driving her mental health, sexuality, and ideas on love. “It took me forty-something years to create my universe with my bare hands and uncontrollable outside hands as well,” she reflects, “and now I had chosen to recreate it.” The result of those birth pains is a complex rendering of Sachi’s true self, sweetly melded with her inner child into a stunning portrait of “joy, grace, and beauty.”
Reviewed by Pikasho Deka for Readers’ Favorite
In this illuminating memoir, Momoko Uno shares her experiences during the recent COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of its subsequent travel and quarantine restrictions on her personal life. Fourteen Days follows Momoko’s journey as she navigates her mother’s terminal illness and her own emotional, physical, and mental well-being. After her mother’s kidney transplant was rejected, Momoko found herself trapped in New York City, unable to go to Perth, Australia, to visit her mother. Eventually, she found her way to Perth, only to be put in quarantine for fourteen days. During this time, she was forced to confront her past trauma, food allergies, MCAS, and her relationship with her mother. As the days went by, she came to terms with her grief and loss and charted her own healing journey.
With her personal story, Momoko Uno captures the isolation and anxiety faced by many people all over the world during the COVID lockdowns in this captivating memoir. Fourteen Days feels deeply personal yet very relatable to anyone who went through the lockdowns and suffered the loss of a loved one. Momoko reveals her experience of quarantine, going through each day trying to overcome her own health issues while having the added anxiety of her mother on her deathbed in the hospital. Experiences like this have unfortunately been common for a lot of people during the pandemic. But ultimately, this is a story about healing, resilience, and perseverance. Personally, I found the book very inspiring and emotionally resonant. I highly recommend it to readers who enjoy stories about people who overcome seemingly overwhelming odds and find their path to healing and recovery.