Book Review: Strangers at the Feast by Jennifer Vanderbes

Title: Strangers at the Feast
Author: Jennifer Vanderbes
ISBN: 978-1439166956
Pages: 352
Release Date: August 2010
Publisher: Scribner
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Provided by: Crazy Book Tours
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Publisher: On Thanksgiving Day 2007, as the country teeters on the brink of a recession, the Olson family gathers. Eleanor and Gavin worry about their daughter, a single academic, and her newly adopted Indian child, and about their son, who has been caught in the imploding real-estate bubble. While the Olsons navigate the tensions and secrets that mark their relationships, seventeen-year-old Kijo Jackson and his best friend Spider set out from the nearby housing projects on a mysterious job. A series of tragic events bring these two worlds ever closer, exposing the dangerously thin line between suburban privilege and urban poverty, and culminating in a crime that will change everyone's life.

My Thoughts: Strangers at the Feast is the story of the Olson Family. The book centers around Thanksgiving Day as three generations have gathered to celebrate - Gavin and Eleanor, dad and mom to Douglas and Ginny, their adult children; Ginny, a professor of women's studies, is single, in her mid-thirties and has recently adopted 7-year old girl from India; Douglas, in his late thirties, works for a real estate development firm and is married to Denise, a nutritional supervisor at the local school. They have 3 young children and live in Greenwich, Connecticut. The story begins in Ginny's home in Westchester sometime in the late 1980s.

The point of view in the book is ever-changing, depending on which character is telling the story at the time. As a narrative tool, this can be effective but is often confusing, as well. Had the author used one omniscient narrator throughout, the story would have been more linear and cohesive. For example, Eleanor thinks about her marriage, her life as a wife and mother and worries about Ginny's life without a husband. Meanwhile, Douglas' thoughts are about his failed construction project and money, or, more to the point, why he doesn't have a lot of it and how to get more. As the story progresses it becomes increasingly clear that the members of this family don't know or understand each other. Though this results in a continually alternating focus and an uneven division of the characters' stories, it is an extremely effective means of emphasizing the distance between each family member and their confusion about each other and life.

With the Olson Family, the author has done an amazing job creating five entirely recognizable, three-dimensional adults. None of them may be you, but you'll still be able to identify all of them. Eleanor is a loving wife and mother whose greatest accomplishments are her family. The health and happiness of her husband, children and grand-children are what really matters to her and it's clear that Eleanor will do almost anything to keep her family safe. Ginny represents a younger, modern generation in which women have careers outside the family. She's an accomplished professor of women's studies always scoffing at traditional female tasks. Tasks that her mother, Eleanor, holds dear: cooking, cleaning, keeping house. Like everyone, the Olsons are not without their flaws, and some are more flawed than others. Gavin, once a light-hearted, fun-loving young man, went to war and returned from Vietnam withdrawn, resentful and tending towards the morose. He shows little interest in or love for his wife Eleanor or his children, and the strain in their relationships is palpable.

The other main characters are fleshed out just as thoroughly. Douglas, as a young man and barely out of college, was obsessed with money much to Gavin's dismay. His obsession has only grown as he made riches, then lost it all in bad investments. Now, the vexing question of why he doesn't have money and how to get a lot of it is all Douglas thinks about. His relationship with his wife, Denise, once the shining star in his life, has disintegrated to the point where they barely speak. Denise grew up poor and won't tolerate a life without wealth. She no longer trusts Douglas to provide her with the only thing that makes her happy.

What I found remarkable about this family was how little they know and understand each other. If I hadn't know better, I couldn't be blamed for thinking the Olsons were strangers meeting for the first time. Ginny and Douglas show no interest in their parents' lives. Neither Ginny nor Douglas asks their parents about their work, what they've been doing lately or how Gavin's job is. In fact, things are so disconnected that at one point, a story is relayed when Douglas asked Gavin for help but then became angry when Gavin asked him about how things were going in his life and why he needed help. Douglas is intensely interested in real estate so his sole care is in repairing the fixer-upper house Ginny recently bought, never mind that she doesn't want it repaired. Ginny, meanwhile, loves to lecture the family on the real Thanksgiving of Pilgrims and Indians, but Eleanor can't help questioning Ginny incessantly about the men in her life, determined to find her a husband as Gavin sits in the corner brooding, his resentment increasing by the hour.

Each individual family member's unhappiness is surpassed only by their fears, intense fears about issues ranging from health and safety to crime, being alone or being poor. The fear and unhappiness they carry inside them and the tension inevitably created by these negative thoughts reach a violent climax a little more than three-quarters of the way through the book with dire results. When things calm down again, as expected, some of the Olsons point fingers of blame at each other but the reality is that there's plenty of blame to go around. Each one of them could have prevented the tragedy that ensues but they don't do anything to help the situation.

Waiting more than half of the book for the conflict is a long time. A character study dominates the novel while the plot slowly develops. So what may be a lack of depth in the story is compensated admirably by a population of characters that are written with great detail as well as broad strokes, not to mention a lot of believability. The major problem with making the reader wait such a long time for the culmination of the stress and tension is that there is little resolution. The novel ends very shortly after the "explosion" and we are left wondering how the Olsons, who we've come to know well because the author has spent so much time and energy fleshing them out, deals with the tragedies aftermath. Simply put, we never really find out what the fall out is and what happened to each character. It seems a shame, unless the author is planning a sequel that picks up where this book left off, that we are left to wonder about each Olson member's fate.

Book Review: Die For You by Lisa Unger

Die For You
Author: Lisa Unger
ISBN: 978-0-307-39398-2
Pages: 384
Release Date: April 27, 2010
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Genre: Suspense
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Publisher: Isabel Raine thought she had everything. A successful career, a supportive family, and a happy marriage to the man she loved. Then one ordinary morning, her husband, Marcus, picked up his briefcase, kissed her goodbye, and simply vanished.

That day all her calls went straight to voicemail; the messages she left at his office went unreturned too. Panicking after finally receiving a call from his cell phone in which all she could hear was a man’s terrified cry, Isabel called the police. But they weren’t interested. Men leave, they told her. They leave all the time. Desperate to find her husband, Isabel raced to his office. But instead of finding him, she finds herself in the middle of an FBI raid. Hours later, she awakens in the hospital with a severe concussion and a homicide detective by her bedside waiting to question her about Marcus Raine — the real Marcus Raine.
Now the only thing Isabel knows for sure is that her husband of five years is gone. Where is he—who is he—are questions no one seems to be able to answer. But Isabel will not rest until she finds the truth about the man she loves, even if it means risking everything—including her own life.

Bestselling author Lisa Unger takes us on a nightmarish journey from bustling, glamorous New York City to the murky, twisted streets of Prague, seeking the answer to one bone-chilling question: What if the man you love, the one sleeping beside you, is a stranger?


My Thoughts: Die For You is a riveting story of mystery and suspense. It's filled with interesting, complex characters who've made some monumentally bad decisions and now are paying dearly. More of a "why-" or "how-dunit" than a "who-dunit", Lisa Unger's fast-paced and captivating book makes you wonder how well we really know our loved ones.

The protagonist, Isabel Raine, is a best-selling novelist with a keen eye for details, observing people and her surroundings closely, noticing many things the average person might miss. Ironically, she failed to see the truth in her own marriage of 5 years to Marcus. Her passion for truth and relentless quest for every last detail in a story, her stubborn refusal to rest until she's satisfied with a book's plot, setting and characters was absent from her married life. She ignored many signs that things weren't quite what they seemed. Now, her life in a shambles, she wants to know why, refusing to live without knowing the truth. Even if it kills her.

Lisa, Isabel's sister, appears to have the perfect life: a devoted and loving husband and two wonderful children. But she's far from satisfied. Lisa seems quiet, sweet and more reserved and stable compared to her passionate, out-spoken and stubborn sister. But her surreptitious behavior, borne of her restlessness, has put her family in jeopardy. She's unsure as to how or why she got herself into the awful and troubling position she's in, but she knows feelings of dissatisfaction have plagued her for a long time and suspects it has something to do with that tragic night so many years ago. She and Isabel have never talked about it, oddly enough, but Lisa cannot stop thinking about that night and can't help but wonder if Isabel thinks about it at all..

The author has given us these two compelling, intriguing characters, sisters who, though very close, are very different. Many things go unspoken, because each woman is sure they know how the other will respond, and neither wants to be criticized, disagreed with or made to change their minds. Isabel envies what Lisa has, unaware that Lisa doesn't fully appreciate it. They are complicated women, both deeply impacted by a past event,. not realizing that their failure to resolve their feelings drives their behavior today. They want to protect each other but by keeping each other in the dark they're forgetting that each are the other's greatest support and ally.

The fast-paced action in this story of suspense moves from the streets of New York City to the beautiful, mysterious streets of Prague as Isabel relentlessly and recklessly pursues the answers she desperately craves about a life and man she no longer recognizes. She refuses to heed the authoritative advice from Detective Crowe to stay at home and let the police handle the investigation. Crowe's another engaging character who's made his share of bad decisions in his own life.
This is the first Lisa Unger book I've read and I found it thoroughly enjoyable. It's a well-written, thought-provoking, age-old tale of an independent, successful woman swept off her feet by an exciting, slightly mysterious stranger after a brief but romantic courtship. They marry, she with stars in her eyes, though she knows very little about him. After a few short years, the marriage, which went smoothly at first, implodes. The lovers part, never to see each other again. Then, the tale becomes anything but predictable as Unger adds twisted evil: frightening scenes, shocking behavior, murder and mayhem with the result that the reader can't help but ask the question: how well do I really know the people in my life who I love?

Sadly, I was astounded and unprepared for an ending which I found profoundly flawed. I reread the last few chapters in hopes of picking up on something different - some sarcasm or satire. But no. As such, my opinion of this book dropped a significant notch or two. I would still recommend Die For You for its goose-bump producing read with thrills that keeps it moving at a lightening-fast pace. If like me, you are disappointed by the end, bear in mind that getting there is more than half the fun. It's because of the journey and not the destination, that I am putting Ms. Unger on my list of novelists whose books I intend to read.

Book Review: Cowboy and Wills by Monica Holloway

Cowboy & Wills
Author: Monica Holloway
Date Published: October 6, 2009
Publisher: Simon Spotlight Entertainment
Pages: 288 pages
ISBN: 978-1416595038
Genre: Non-fiction Memoir
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Summary: The day Monica Holloway learns that her lovable, brilliant three-year-old son has autism spectrum disorder, she takes him to buy an aquarium. But what Wills really wants is a puppy, and from the moment Cowboy Carol Lawrence, an overeager and affectionate golden retriever, joins the family, Monica watches as her cautious son steps a little farther into the world.

With his new "sister" Cowboy by his side, Wills finds the courage to invite kids over for play dates, conquer his debilitating fear of water, and finally sleep in his own bed with the puppy's paws draped across his small chest. And when Cowboy turns out to need her new family as much as they need her, they discover just how much she has taught them about devotion, loyalty, and never giving up.

Sometimes it's what you don't know to hope for that saves you. For Monica and Wills, salvation came in the form of a puppy with pale blond fur, chocolate brown eyes, a fondness for chewing the crotch out of underpants, and a limitless capacity for love.


My Thoughts: Cowboy & Wills is Monica Holloway's heart-warming, poignant and funny story about her amazing son, Wills and his best friend, a golden retriever puppy named Cowboy Carol Lawrence (yes, that's the dog's "full name"!). Wills, diagnosed with autism before he is 2 years-old, is fortunate to have parents, particularly a mother, willing to do whatever it takes to help him including opening her home to a menagerie of pets. Wills has always responded to animals much better than people, but none quite like the golden retriever puppy who helps Wills conquer his anxieties, embrace the world around him and become a happy, popular young boy. Wills sees several therapists regularly and is assisted by an aide in school but nobody helps him through the days like Cowboy. Wills' connection with Cowboy is remarkable. She provides Wills with the safety and comfort he needs to calm his fears and learn to communicate. In a very short time, with Cowboy by his side and his parents' love and support, Wills becomes an independent, personable, and enthusiastic boy who, rather than cower and hide, welcomes new experiences and seeks out friendships.

Author Monica Holloway tells the story about learning her small son is autistic and the extent she and her husband go: physically, mentally, emotionally and financially to get Wills the help he needs with honesty and a refreshing openness. Holloway doesn't pull any punches when relating the range of emotions she experiences watching her son deal with the social anxieties and fears that assail him daily. She shares what a confusing, overwhelming situation it can be because Wills is extremely bright in many areas but can only communicate with a very small number of people. Holloway displays a remarkable energy and drive to get Wills any available help that will provide him the tools he needs to be able to interact with children his age.

Holloway obviously adores her son and writes graphically about the extremes Wills experiences. There are difficult episodes, such as Will experiencing extreme sensory overload during a birthday party causing him to run screaming from the house. But then there are inspiring instances: while driving home from the same birthday party, Wills exclaims "That was a fun party!".

Wills, despite his anxiety, shows a desire to be a part of activities. During Wills' first year of preschool there is a sing-along in the park. This is essentially a nightmare for Wills but Holloway takes him because isolating him is not the answer. Wills starts out screaming and refuses to let go of Holloway but as the sing-along progresses, Wills stops covering his ears and he starts humming the songs! Holloway writes that Wills often surprises them behaving in unexpected ways, fighting against the fears and anxieties that threaten to overwhelm him. But nothing prepares Holloway and her husband for the impact a small golden retriever puppy will have.

Wills has always responded well to animals and Holloway makes a habit of visiting the pet store if her son has a difficult day or a doctor's visit is disappointing. In a few years their family has included several hermit crabs, turtles, many different fish, three jumping frogs, a number of hamsters and a large rabbit named Ruby. But Wills has wanted a puppy for quite a while. Specifically, a golden retriever puppy. Cowboy Carol Lawrence, as named by Wills, joins the family on December 21st in Wills sixth year .

Monica, Michael and Wills are in love. Understandably as Cowboy is adorable, full of energy, and chewing anything in sight! In only a matter of days Wills begins to assert himself like never before. For example, on the first day back at school after Christmas, , Wills teacher asks if anyone has anything they'd like to share. He is the first to volunteer. Wills, never having participated in any kind of sharing with the class before now, has a picture of Cowboy in his hand and shows it to each classmate and then tells all about Cowboy.

Cowboy helps usher in many new experiences for Wills, one of the most significant being friendships with other children. With Cowboy the center of attention the focus is off Wills allowing him to ease into a situation and become comfortable with it. Holloway writes with joyful amazement at the many changes in Wills with Cowboy in his life.

I like Holloway very much. She is a kind, funny and personable woman and a terrific. loving mother. She is also quite an animal lover! Her writing is insightful, engaging and filled with heart-wrenching and humorous anecdotes. She can be very self-deprecating at times and suffers a lot of guilt for Wills autism because of her OCD behavior. It's obvious that there is no limit to the love she has for her son which comes through on every page. Holloway makes it clear in Cowboy & Wills that there's no end to the lengths she will go to open doors for Wills and help him cope with his anxieties and fears. I wish every child was fortunate enough to have a parent like Monica Holloway. Holloway has written a very inspiring story about a mother's love for her son and the healing that can come from a relationship with a beloved pet.

I recommend this book for any family coping with autism and any person involved in treating individuals with autism. But this is also a book that would be enjoyed by anyone who loves animals and understands the transforming power of loving one. I will caution anybody who reads this book that there are some very difficult and emotional chapters towards the end of the book but also hopeful and inspiring.

I received a copy of this book this book from the publisher, Simon Spotlight Entertainment.

Monica Holloway will be hosting a live video chat on the Cowboy & Wills facebook page tonight, Tuesday, September 28th at 7:30 p.m. EST. Go to Cowboy & Wills

Book Review: One Day by David Nicholls

One Day
by David Nicholls
Publisher: Vintage Contemporaries
Published Date: June 15, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-307-47471-1
448 Pages - Paperback
Fiction
Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Summary: It's 1988 and Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley have only just met. They both know that the next day, after college graduation, they must go their separate ways. But after only one day together, they cannot stop thinking about one another. As the years go by, Dex and Em begin to lead separate lives, lives very different from the people they once dreamed they'd become. And yet, unable to let go of that special something that grabbed onto them that first night, an extraordinary relationship develops between the two.
Over twenty years, snapshots of that relationship are revealed on the same day July 15th of each year. Dex and Em face squabbles and fights, hopes and missed opportunities, laughter and tears. And as the true meaning of this one crucial day is revealed, they must come to grips with the nature of love and life itself.


My Thoughts: One Day opens with Emma and Dexter spending the night (and the next day) together after meeting, for the first time, at a party earlier that evening celebrating their college graduations. Emma is attracted to Dexter's good looks, having seen him around campus several times. Dexter, who is very drunk, likes pretty girls like Emma.

Dexter is a party boy who admittedly wants to avoid reality and responsibility for as long as possible. He has very vague plans for his life which include traveling for a couple of years and then, somehow, becoming rich and famous.. Emma, on the other hand, is interested in politics and causes. She wants to make a difference, change the "bit of world around her". She doesn't care about being rich, popular or cool. She wants to live passionately and experience new things. But she isn't sure how. Emma and Dexter sound very much like new college graduates, a little lost, a little unsure about the future as they go their separate ways.

The author, David Nicholls, employs an interesting technique to move the story along, checking in on Emma and Dexter every year on the same day, July 15th. It's initially fun to anticipate the following year and wonder what they've been up to. Will this be the year they get together? Have they found good jobs? Things to do they're passionate about? Has one of them met their true love? Emma struggles for a few years trying to figure out what she wants to do and how to live up to her lofty ideals. She becomes depressed and doubts herself. She still likes Dexter but forces herself to be just friends with him because he only wants fun, pretty girls. Emma spends a lot of time moping, wondering why nothing good happens for her. She often doesn't bother to work hard or try to make things happen. Emma lets life plod along and pass her by for a few years.

Dexter's life, on the other hand, takes off exactly as he wants. He returned from traveling with a job in the television industry. He's making money and having a great time. He doesn't have to work hard or struggle. And, in Dexter's estimate, the television industry is filled with good looking and important people, which is very important to him.

Emma and Dexter settled into a close friendship. They speak and get together frequently. Emma decided to suppress her romantic feelings for Dexter since he isn't look for a serious relationship. He wants everything in his life to be fun, easy-going and light. He drinks a lot and uses drugs occasionally, spending most nights out at parties and bars or clubs. He wants nothing to do with sadness, hardship, anything complicated or messy. He is extremely immature and superficial.

I know I'm in the minority here but I didn't care much for One Day. The first few chapters were amusing, funny and entertaining but it wasn't long before I was tired of Emma's moping, her insecurities and lack of initiative. Rather than work hard to get out of her rut, she languishes in a Tex-Mex restaurant as a waitress. Her taste in men is terrible, too. I'd hoped when she didn't tell Dexter how she felt about him in one of the letters she sent him while he was traveling, she'd stand up to him when they were out together. I wanted her to tell him she didn't want him regaling her with stories of his female conquests. She wanted him to notice her. Instead, Emma responds whenever he calls her and "needs" to see her to complain about something or brag about his life. It drives her mad that Dexter never asks her about her life and what's up with her but she tolerates his selfish behavior and is available at his beck and call.

Emma, finally at her wit's end with Dexter, gets involved with Ian, who fancies himself a stand-up comic. The problem is, he's very rarely funny. Ian treats Emma well but, although she cares for him, she doesn't love him and finds his behavior endlessly irritating. Emma chooses not to tell Ian how she feels but puts up with him rather than be alone. She doesn't value herself or believe she deserves the best. After several "years" of Emma behaving this way, it became tiring and grated on my nerves. And how she lived with Ian as long as she did, who practiced his "comedy" every waking moment yet failed to even slightly improve, is beyond me.

I could put up with Emma and actually grew to like her a little more as she matured and took control of her life. And she is a breath of fresh air compared to Dexter. Dexter's character becomes much less likable and increasingly more aggravating until the mere sight of his name on the page made me groan. Dexter's obsession with having fun, looking good and being surrounded by good-looking, important people become his only purpose. Well, that and consuming alcohol. His drinking escapades as he gets older are no longer funny but pathetic and annoying. There are at least two episodes in the book (I don't want to give the details in case some of you haven't read the book) in which Dexter's drinking and subsequent behavior shocked and disgusted me. In fact, I thought he should have been arrested for one of them. I have little to no patience for Dexter behaving in such a selfish, uncaring manner, especially when he hurts and harms people he supposedly loves, although that, too, is questionable with Dexter.

I read several reviews of this book and words like cute, funny, memorable, wonderful and sad were used about this story. I agree that One Day is sad. There are several situations, moments and characters that can only be described as such. Characters that are also pathetic, whiney and generally unhappy. Nicholls technique of dropping in on Emma and Dexter every July 15th is interesting and exciting initially, but soon the years start to drag and this vehicle makes the book too long. Dexter's drinking and childish behavior is unchanged year after year. He fails to mature and become an adult, to be responsible and respect his friends and family. Emma, even when she finally discovers something she's passionate about and starts enjoying her life, still behaves in a manner inconsistent with a woman who values herself and believes she deserves to be treated well. Although I enjoyed parts of the book, overall it left me with the idea that life is challenging and difficult without much to look forward to. In other words: life's a bitch and then you die.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through the Shelf Awareness Newsletter for review.

Book Review: Talking to the Dead

Title: Talking to the Dead
Author: Helen Dunmore
ISBN: 978-0-316-19645-1
Pages: 304
Release Date: 2006
Publisher: Little Brown & Company
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 4.0 out of 5


Publisher's Summary: Long-buried secrets and resentments bubble lazily to the surface over a few short weeks when Nina, a London photographer and artist, goes to the English countryside to help her outwardly perfect older sister Isabel, who has just suffered through a difficult birth. Though the household--Isabel's husband Richard, friend Edward, baby Antony, and a local nanny--seems hermetically sealed against the world, past and present rear up to strike the sisters. "This house is stiff with things that can't be said," observes Nina. Stifling heat, menace, and memories radiate from these pages, keeping the reader on edge. Helen Dunmore, winner of the Orange Prize, heightens sometimes overly obvious drama with rich, sensual prose.


My thoughts: Helen Dunmore has written a riveting story about two sisters and the ties that bond them as well as drive them apart. Isabel and Nina were very close growing up, maybe too close. They know each other better than they know themselves. A painful tragedy in their childhood caused both of them, but especially Nina, to push the past away, choosing to forget much of it. But the difficult delivery and birth of Isabel's first child and the memories that come back to Nina while she is staying under Isabel's roof, bring the past back resulting in unintended and surprising consequences for everyone. Talking to the Dead is a tale of love, loyalty, manipulation, fear, anger and betrayal will stay with you long after you finish reading the book.

Nina is anxious to visit and help Isabel out after the difficult birth of her first child, Antony. When Nina arrives at the house, there is the expected tension between she and Richard, Isabel's husband, but Nina also senses an odd attraction that confuses and troubles her. Nina has always considered Isabel superior to herself, smarter, more sophisticated and more talented. She craves Isabel's approval as she always has and desperately wants to please her. This renders Nina awkward and uncomfortable around Isabel, unsure of how Isabel will receive her and if she will be able to please Isabel. Isabel, at first, is sweet and kind, very happy to have Nina staying with her. But it isn't long before Isabel turns selfish and manipulative. She enjoys controlling every aspect of Nina from her thoughts to her actions to what she says. Isabel appears not only aware of Nina's predilection but she capitalizes on it and manipulates her for her own enjoyment.

Nina begins having vivid memories and dreams of her childhood in her parents house shortly after she arrives at Isabel's home. We see the relationship between Nina and Isabel when they were little girls and are privy to events of their childhood through Nina's dreams and memories. As the days and weeks go by and Nina struggles to bond once again with Isabel, she remembers more about her childhood. She recalls her artist parents, more focused on their work than on their children. Isabel and Nina turned to each other for love, comfort and care, as a result. Isabel, the older sister, took on more of a parenting, nurturing role for Nina who worshipped Isabel's every word and deed. Nina was extremely loyal to Isabel and trusted her completely. As a child, Nina believed there was nothing Isabel couldn't do to the point of magical acts that transcend reality. Isabel counted on this loyalty and worship and learned hot to control and manipulate Nina to get it. But the delicate balance in the household is threatened by the birth of Isabel and Nina's little brother, Colin. The girls are shocked to see their mother become the doting parent she's never been for them. While Nina is confused and doesn't understand what's happening, Isabel is perfectly aware of what her mother is doing and doesn't like what she's seeing at all.

Isabel's new baby, Antony reminds Nina of her little brother, Colin, and stirs up these painful, long forgotten memories. As an adult, Nina understands more about Isabel's behavior and her parents. Nina also trusts her memories and her knowledge more now than she did as a child. One night Nina recalls the terrible tragedy that befell the family when she was still a little girl. Her memory of the incident shocks her and she tries to talk to Isabel about it. Isabel disagrees with Nina and remembers things differently, forcing her version of events on Nina. But Nina isn't the same little girl who worshipped everything Isabel said and did. Mixed in with her love and adoration of Isabel there is anger and jealousy.

Nina's feelings for Isabel start to change. She is suddenly confused and troubled by her older sister. What she once thought of as love and caring she now reluctantly sees more as manipulation and a selfishness on Isabel's part. Feelings of anger and jealousy towards Isabel crop up as more memories, thoughts and feelings buried deep inside Nina bubbling to the surface. She is angry one minute, scared and fearful the next. Nina lashes out at Isabel in her anger and painfully betrays Isabel in ways that can never be taken back.

This book is full of tension and raw emotion from the start. The characters, particularly Nina, Richard and Isabel are real and very flawed. I found Isabel particularly difficult to like. She comes off as extremely selfish and manipulative rather than appreciative of the people around her, all more than willing to do whatever will make her feel comfortable and allow her to rest. As the story progresses, some light is shed on Isabel's behavior. Unfortunately, those around her who should love her and care for her are always too wrapped up in themselves to see what Isabel needs and give it to her.

I liked Nina for the most part and I felt badly for her. But when she betrays Isabel I saw a very different Nina and one I'm not sure I like very much! Although I understood why she wanted to hurt Isabel, I find it hard to excuse what she did. But the emotions and behavior started long ago in the sister's childhood. Richard and the nanny, Susan, can't completely understand the dynamics between Nina and Isabel because they weren't there all of those years ago. Poor Richard. He's such a successful businessman but at home he cannot seem to make his wife happy. He just wants her to be happy and comfortable and he wants to be loved. Like so many men, he doesn't get it, he doesn't understand why the women are behaving as they are or what it means.

This is a beautifully written book about how the past is never really forgotten. Things that happen when you're young can have a huge impact when you are an adult. This is not a happy story, not even with the birth of the baby. It's a very painful, sad and surprising story. It's a story about flawed human beings who are too wrapped up in themselves to really understand what the people they love are trying to tell them. But it is a very real, very human story. Relationships are difficult and wonderful and troubling. Love can make people do things they would never imagine themselves capable of until something happens and it's too late to change it.

Helen Dunmore's writing is beautiful. Her use of language and the imagery contrast sharply with the emotion expressed throughout the novel. Here are a few passages I thought were wonderful:

"I'm under the fig tree, with it's big leaves all round me like hands to keep off the sun. There are plenty of figs this year, and for once they're going to ripen. Their warm, spicy smell fills the shade where I sit. It's half-past two and the sky's white with heat. In this weather you sit out the glare, waiting for the long light of evening."

"Slowly, slowly, I push open the door of Susan's room. I make no sound. The pale curtains are drawn, and the room smells of the new pine furniture, and baby sleep. He is rosy with the heat, his hair damp, his fist up to his face. He is sleeping on his side, and Isabel has put a rolled up towel beside him so he can't turn onto his face. I creep right up to the cot. His weight dents the mattress. He looks more solid than I've ever seen him. Already he's changing, filling out, and that fist by his face looks strangely mature."

"He was a handsome man, our father, and five years younger than my mother. He was fair, with the same eyes as Isabel, the same golden skin, which was creased by the time I knew him. By some reckonings my mother was lucky to get him. He drew people round him, because he was funny, because he had a way of making you feel that you were something new and delightful he'd just discovered, and above all because there was something lost and pained in him which people felt without knowing quite what it was. He seemed to need you. My mother didn't seem to need anybody much."

Helen Dunmore won England's Orange Prize for Fiction in 1996 for Talking to the Dead, the year's best novel by a woman writer. this is the first of Helen Dunmore's books that I've read but it won't be my last!