Family is always complicated. When a special needs child is involved it grows even more so. Deciding where the child fits into the family – if indeed they fit at all – can become the issue around which all others revolve, and that decision can have ripple effects that last far longer than the child’s…
This novel opens with a poignant diary entry from WWII talking about a family so hungry they were forced to dig tulip bulbs from the ground to find something to eat. That is an outstanding setup for letting us know just how desperate a time that was in Holland. Unfortunately, the rest of the book…
Who were you going to marry in kindergarten? Or first grade? Do you remember your first crush? Or your second? It is easy to dismiss young emotions, puppy love as they call it, but these feelings can be immensely strong. They may not last but while they are with us they can consume us. This…
Spending time with people you dislike can be extremely difficult, especially if they specialize in whining about how tough life has been for them. Constance is such a character, a woman who perpetually looks at the half of the glass she doesn’t have. She goes beyond that: Beneath her sophisticated, successful façade is a woman…
I fell in love with the novels of M. M. Kaye during my teen years. I have never forgotten her vivid descriptions of India and the wonders she depicted on the pages of books such as The Far Pavilions and Shadow of the Moon. This novel picks up the tradition of writing about British Colonialism…
Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite novels of all time. The excellent writing and timeless romance make it (in my mind) the ultimate DIK. This book is a look at what Longbourn, the home of the Bennets, experienced below stairs while Elizabeth was meeting Darcy and Jane was being wooed by Bingley. Sarah…
Obsession can be a powerful thing. It can help us do great deeds or it can be the cessation of greatness. An obsessed character can be a fantastic, multifaceted personage or a cardboard cutout with only one side painted in. In the case of this novel the author manages to land her obsessed character somewhere…
The title to this book is a cute play on words that refers both to the fact that our heroine is a librarian and to a certain facet of the characters’ romantic relationship. That sense of cute, easy fun conveys pretty much what this novel is – a quick, breezy relaxed end of summer treasure….
I love books that combine contemporary life with a gentle, mystical magic. This novel explores a magic knitting shop where casting spells and casting stitches occur simultaneously and the items created are not just pretty to look at but bewitch those who wear them. Tarrytown, located next to Sleepy Hollow, has long been a place…
The ending paragraph of The Time Between reads: “We live, we love. These are the choices we are given, to open doors or to close them. It is all we have and it is enough.” Like the ending suggests, this novel speaks wonderfully about the choices we make and how we choose to live with…
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