Ah, my need for some riveting fiction has been met! This book was such a good read. My mother had given it to me for Christmas because she had enjoyed it. When she was here visiting briefly last week, she picked it up while sitting in the car with one of my sleeping boys as I ran in for groceries. She said that she wants to read it all over again. I can see why!
Set in a small town next to the Olympic National Forest, Kristin Hannah intertwines the paths of several dynamic characters. First, there is a child psychiatrist, Julia, with a damaged reputation and no great desire to return to her small town roots. Her sister, Ellie, is a lonely beauty queen, turned police chief, with two failed marriages behind her. When a six year old girl appears in town from out of nowhere, hiding in a tree with a wolf cub, Ellie begs Julia to come help in her quest to discover the girl's identity and return her to her rightful home. The handsome local doctor, Max, is running from his own demons and is intrigued by Julia's open hostility towards him. The entrance of this little wild child (think a female version of Emily Bronte's Heathcliff) alters the course of life for each of them.
The little girl's scars, animalistic behavior, and inability to communicate, make it clear that she has suffered untold trauma. Julia gives her the name "Alice," and begins to work night and day, trying to draw her out and provide them with some clues. In the process, the people of this small town begin to fall in love with their strange new ward. When the mystery of Alice's identity begins to come to light, endless emotions are brought to the surface and the characters are in for the ride of their lives.
This is a novel full of the best and worst of love - the commitment, the cost, the joy, the pain. It is a tale of the resilience of the human spirit and the power of love. Its characters will tug at your heart strings and you will feel fully invested in the outcome of Alice's plight.
5 comments:
We're making a family trip to the library this morning, and I wrote down this book . . . hopefully it will be there as I need a good book to read.
Have a great day.
Bia - Hope you manage to get it and hope you enjoy it. Nice to hear from you again here!
A fellow book lover--how wonderful! Thanks for entering our giveaway, and for the fabulous tea story (and the birthday wishes, of course!).
Prodigal - Thanks for stopping by. Glad you enjoyed the tea story. I'll be checking back to your blog to see if I've won the giveaway.
Kristin Hannah did a great job in telling this story. Taking a real life historical event and turing it in to a story that bleeds joy, heartache and strength. Russia's history has always been a violent one up until recentally, the fact that she could tell bring historical issues to light in such an uplifing book is remarable. The storry of two daughter learning about their mother's past to explain so much about not only her but also themselves. A woman who can endure so much loss in ones life and still have the strength go on is truely inspiring. To loss one child would be hard enough, but to think that you had lost the other one and the love of your life also in a matter of days would be unbareable, and Hannah really showed the pain she went through. Then wrapping the story up with happiness, love and warmth was the best way to end the story.
Post a Comment