I've heard about Peyton Place since I was a little girl. It was the scandalous book people read behind closed doors and never admitted to really reading, even though they did. It was also the scandalous TV show that everyone remembers watching. But, it wasn't until I read The American Wife and read references to Peyton Place that I decided to read it for myself and decide exactly how scandalous it really is.
So, it's not scandalous in the sense that 50 Shades of Grey is scandalous, but I am sure that for a book written in the 60's, it was scandalous. Especially when you think of it in terms of the quotation on the front cover of the book: "the extraordinary new novel that lifts the lid off a small New England town." It seems to have lifted the lid off of any town, anywhere. Every city has dirty laundry. The scary thought for people everywhere is that they are going to be exposed, and that's exactly what Metalious did in her novel--she reminded us that all towns across the nation have scandal. None of us are safe from gossip, sex, and intrigue. Even in the 60's. Especially in 2014.
I will be honest and admit that I googled Peyton Place last weekend as I was trying to get into the book. I read just enough to learn that the book centers around three main characters: Constance, Allison, and Selena. OK. Perhaps these are the main characters, but since there's no chapter/book delineation making these three ladies stand out, they seem no more important to me than the other scores and scores of towns people mentioned in the novel. Allison, maybe, as she is the writer about to put Peyton Place on the map with her new novel as Peyton Place comes to a close and Return to Peyton Place (which I do not plan to read) begins. But, if it weren't for my google search, I'd have had no idea that the book was really about these three ladies. There were sections of the book where these ladies weren't even mentioned. Maybe I am missing something.
I haven't made up my mind if I liked Peyton Place, either. I am glad from an historical standpoint that I read the book. It seems to be just another one of those books from our past that you should read just to say that you did, but it will never end up on my favorites list. This book did not move me, it did not teach me anything (except to fear small towns and gossipy neighbors), and I do not feel as though moving forward in life I will take anything from this book with me as I go. But, am I impressed by the author's gumption? Yes. Did she make a statement with this book? I can only imagine that she did. Was her writing professionally crafted and characters well-developed? Absolutely. From a technical standpoint, this book is exquisite. The first pages alone had me enthralled as Metalious sensually described Indian Summer. But, between the smaller than small font (get this on your e-device and make the font bigger) and the large cast of characters that I could never truly keep straight, it was a tiring read that left me wanting more at the end. But not wanting to read the sequel, so you do the math on that one.
OK. So, I feel about this about the same way I did about reading "The Canterbury Tales" in high school. I'm glad I read it so that I can say that I did and so that I can know what people are talking about when they talk about it. The End.
Happy reading, everyone.
:) Dodie
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Monday, March 17, 2014
#20 American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
I was able to finish American Wife this morning, on what I hope and pray to be the very last snow day of 2014. I have had enough! Of snow...not reading.
American Wife has been sitting on my shelf for probably close to 2 years. It was a sale book at Barnes and Nobel and the cover was so beautiful, it came home with me and then sat on my shelf until a few weeks ago. If I had known that the wife portrayed in the book was based on Laura Bush, I'd have read it the moment I bought it. I just love Laura Bush--I think she was a wonderful First Lady. I may love her more now that I have caught a tiny glimpse into her life before she stepped foot into The White House. But, for those of you who are not a fan of this particular First Lady, you should know what you are getting into before opening the cover of this book.
The book is divided into sections, each based on the home where the American Wife, Alice Lindgren Blackwell, lived at that time. The final section is 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. And this final section, as I was warned by other reviewers of this text, is dull and boring. The rest of the book is lively, endearing, and a wonderful read. It is a long book-554 pages. And my copy is rather heavy. You might want to get an e-copy of this one.
Because I do not like books that I can not take something from, I am always searching as I read for the lesson or the moral that will give me something to keep in my heart long after the cover of the book has been closed. What I took from American Wife is a new found appreciation for my life. My normal life. My life where I can say what I want, can wear what I want, can go where I want, and can believe what I want. And for the most part, nobody cares. OK, yes...I am a teacher so I have to be careful of what I say and do and wear, but only publicly. (Yes, I gave up Facebook two years ago because I was worried about offending parents or of not friending parents who may have requested this relationship with me, but considering that not being on FB has made me happier in my life than I ever was while a part of it, I don't think I am having to give up too much because I teach. And since I have less than 3 months left of said teaching career, I think I will be able to manage.) But, poor Alice spent the bulk of her life trying to reconcile who she really was with who the public, and her husband Charlie, wanted her to be. She had to temper everything and she had to base her life on outward appearances. Yuck. That is not the life for me. I have always been much happier blending in with the wallpaper than being in the middle of a room. Right now I am so grateful that the Rob I married, who wanted to be a senator someday, turned in to the 40 year old Rob who is thriving inside an insurance company. Being in front of the public, very watchful eye is not where I'd like to be. Funny thing is, I am fairly certain Alice would like to be on my side of that eye, too. With her book. I think she and I could've been good friends.
I never dog ear book pages. I remember thinking as a child that doing so would hurt the book, but I dog eared page 321. (I bet Alice, the librarian, would never have dog eared book pages either.) Because of these lines from the story:
Oh, how different my life would have been had I not grown up in the same house as my grandmother, how much narrower and blander! She was the reason I was a reader, and being a reader was what had made me myself; it had given me the gifts of curiosity and sympathy, and awareness of the world as an odd and vibrant and contradictory place, and it had made me unafraid of its oddness and vibrancy and contradictions.
These lines made me desperately miss my grandmother, my father's mother, Violet Belle Kuykendall Denison, the women who helped mold me into the woman I am today. In fact, reading about Alice's relationship with her grandmother throughout American Wife made me miss mine so very much. And when I read these lines, I couldn't help but think of her. She was many things for me, but most of all she was my reading partner. I recall going to the library with her each week when I spent summers with her and I remember how she made books seem to be so magical and so special. They were to be treasured and protected. I can close my eyes and see us both tucked into her big bed each night (I shared a room with her during the summers), she on her side, and me on mine. Both of us reading until we just couldn't keep our eyes open anymore and then we'd turn out the light, way past the time when anyone else in the house was awake. She was a gem, that amazing lady. I am so grateful that I was able to call her my grandmother.
You will like reading about Emilie, Alice's grandmother, too. She was a lady before her time. It was because of her that Alice felt so many things that she wasn't supposed to feel and to think so many things that she wasn't supposed to think. Emilie just may have molded her into the First Lady she turned out to be. A First Lady with compassion and caring for the rest of the American people. A First Lady who was realistic and human. A First Lady women like me could relate to. Perhaps that's why I liked Laura Bush so much. In another time and another place, I would've liked to have been the Kindergarten teacher to her librarian.
Happy Reading everyone!
:) Dodie
American Wife has been sitting on my shelf for probably close to 2 years. It was a sale book at Barnes and Nobel and the cover was so beautiful, it came home with me and then sat on my shelf until a few weeks ago. If I had known that the wife portrayed in the book was based on Laura Bush, I'd have read it the moment I bought it. I just love Laura Bush--I think she was a wonderful First Lady. I may love her more now that I have caught a tiny glimpse into her life before she stepped foot into The White House. But, for those of you who are not a fan of this particular First Lady, you should know what you are getting into before opening the cover of this book.
The book is divided into sections, each based on the home where the American Wife, Alice Lindgren Blackwell, lived at that time. The final section is 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. And this final section, as I was warned by other reviewers of this text, is dull and boring. The rest of the book is lively, endearing, and a wonderful read. It is a long book-554 pages. And my copy is rather heavy. You might want to get an e-copy of this one.
Because I do not like books that I can not take something from, I am always searching as I read for the lesson or the moral that will give me something to keep in my heart long after the cover of the book has been closed. What I took from American Wife is a new found appreciation for my life. My normal life. My life where I can say what I want, can wear what I want, can go where I want, and can believe what I want. And for the most part, nobody cares. OK, yes...I am a teacher so I have to be careful of what I say and do and wear, but only publicly. (Yes, I gave up Facebook two years ago because I was worried about offending parents or of not friending parents who may have requested this relationship with me, but considering that not being on FB has made me happier in my life than I ever was while a part of it, I don't think I am having to give up too much because I teach. And since I have less than 3 months left of said teaching career, I think I will be able to manage.) But, poor Alice spent the bulk of her life trying to reconcile who she really was with who the public, and her husband Charlie, wanted her to be. She had to temper everything and she had to base her life on outward appearances. Yuck. That is not the life for me. I have always been much happier blending in with the wallpaper than being in the middle of a room. Right now I am so grateful that the Rob I married, who wanted to be a senator someday, turned in to the 40 year old Rob who is thriving inside an insurance company. Being in front of the public, very watchful eye is not where I'd like to be. Funny thing is, I am fairly certain Alice would like to be on my side of that eye, too. With her book. I think she and I could've been good friends.
I never dog ear book pages. I remember thinking as a child that doing so would hurt the book, but I dog eared page 321. (I bet Alice, the librarian, would never have dog eared book pages either.) Because of these lines from the story:
Oh, how different my life would have been had I not grown up in the same house as my grandmother, how much narrower and blander! She was the reason I was a reader, and being a reader was what had made me myself; it had given me the gifts of curiosity and sympathy, and awareness of the world as an odd and vibrant and contradictory place, and it had made me unafraid of its oddness and vibrancy and contradictions.
These lines made me desperately miss my grandmother, my father's mother, Violet Belle Kuykendall Denison, the women who helped mold me into the woman I am today. In fact, reading about Alice's relationship with her grandmother throughout American Wife made me miss mine so very much. And when I read these lines, I couldn't help but think of her. She was many things for me, but most of all she was my reading partner. I recall going to the library with her each week when I spent summers with her and I remember how she made books seem to be so magical and so special. They were to be treasured and protected. I can close my eyes and see us both tucked into her big bed each night (I shared a room with her during the summers), she on her side, and me on mine. Both of us reading until we just couldn't keep our eyes open anymore and then we'd turn out the light, way past the time when anyone else in the house was awake. She was a gem, that amazing lady. I am so grateful that I was able to call her my grandmother.
You will like reading about Emilie, Alice's grandmother, too. She was a lady before her time. It was because of her that Alice felt so many things that she wasn't supposed to feel and to think so many things that she wasn't supposed to think. Emilie just may have molded her into the First Lady she turned out to be. A First Lady with compassion and caring for the rest of the American people. A First Lady who was realistic and human. A First Lady women like me could relate to. Perhaps that's why I liked Laura Bush so much. In another time and another place, I would've liked to have been the Kindergarten teacher to her librarian.
Happy Reading everyone!
:) Dodie
Monday, March 10, 2014
#19: Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close
I had hoped that Girls in White Dresses would be a light, fun story to read that would take me away from all of the historical fiction I seemed to be surrounding myself with lately. Well...it was light and easy to read, but I am not sure I really know what happened. It sort of reminded me of Seinfeld...a show about nothing, but a show that captivated me just the same. I liked the book and I certainly loved to read about people I will never be: young, single, successful, New York/The Hamptons inhabitants. But aside from people getting involved, married, and divorced, nothing much else happened. But, that's OK. I think that's what the story was supposed to be about: a group of friends who left college, got married, or tried to, had kids, or tried to, and then (some) got divorced. A story about real life, I guess.
My only issue with the book, and I take full responsibility for this as I do with all of my issues with books (after all, these people are clearly more talented than I--someone who merely reads other people's books), is that I couldn't keep the circle of friends straight. There are so many characters that I just couldn't remember who was who and who married who. And, each chapter was divided into such tiny little sections that I could barely learn something new about a character before Close moved on.
So, if you want a 20-something girlfriend-boyfriend book (that doesn't really have closure at the end) that will entertain you, but not boggle down your mind, this is the book for you.
For those of you who like me to cut to the chase: it was not a favorite of mine, nor will it be making the top ten list.
Happy reading everyone!
:) Dodie
My only issue with the book, and I take full responsibility for this as I do with all of my issues with books (after all, these people are clearly more talented than I--someone who merely reads other people's books), is that I couldn't keep the circle of friends straight. There are so many characters that I just couldn't remember who was who and who married who. And, each chapter was divided into such tiny little sections that I could barely learn something new about a character before Close moved on.
So, if you want a 20-something girlfriend-boyfriend book (that doesn't really have closure at the end) that will entertain you, but not boggle down your mind, this is the book for you.
For those of you who like me to cut to the chase: it was not a favorite of mine, nor will it be making the top ten list.
Happy reading everyone!
:) Dodie
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
#18: The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
I feel as though I may be experiencing an Historical Fiction period in my reading life. It seems that almost every book I have read lately (Roses, Somerset, The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott, Calling Me Home, Thousand Splendid Suns) has some ties to the past, particularly the 1800's and slavery. Reading The Invention of Wings certainly fits that bill!
The Invention of Wings is Sue Monk Kidd's fictional interpretation of Sarah Grimke, a real southern woman from South Carolina who despised slavery and who had significant issues with the traditional expectations for women in the early 1800's. The story details her life from age 11, as well as the life of her maid Hetty Handful (better known as Handful throughout of the story). Their stories are told in alternating chapters and they really are amazing stories. As would be expected of such a story, both women are searching desperately for freedom, just in very different ways. The are both looking to find their wings.
I loved that after the novel had concluded, Kidd gives us great, detailed information about the real Sarah Grimke and her family. I would not advise reading this first, as it really will ruin the story for you. There's so much of her real life in the plot of the novel that it might spoil things to read the historical account ahead of time. The interesting part of the history, however, is that Hetty is only mentioned briefly in most accounts as simply being the maid for Sarah. That's where her tiny part of history ends. What we read in the novel, therefore, is all a creation of Kidd, and it is brilliant. The hours and hours of research Kidd must've put into the writing of this book is commendable.
As I have written before when detailing my thoughts about these historical fiction works, I just can't imagine the daily struggles these women had to endure. Obviously, the hardships slaves had to endure are unspeakable, but even the daily lives of the white women are hard for me to now imagine. Now I know that I am writing this in 2014, a time when I can truly be anything I want to be--there are virtually no limits, provided that I have the financial means. This simple fact makes it so hard for me to imagine living at a time where my sole purpose in life was to be pretty, land a husband, and then make babies. Can you imagine, then, the number of women who were miserable? It couldn't just have been Sarah and her sister Nina. I'm sure that they were just the brave ones who stood up for themselves and spoke out against a reality they found abhorrent. While I certainly love being a mother and I love my husband and our life together, if I were dropped back in time, I doubt I'd fit into those typical female roles very well. Perhaps that is just my modern mind talking, but after reading this book, I no longer feel as though those Southern ladies of the past had an easy life going off to social events and letting others raise their children. I bet they would envy my crazy life of carpools, juggling work and home, and the fact that I own a home and a car! Life is all about perspective and The Invention of Wings certainly has functioned to change mine. I am grateful for my wings.
Happy reading everyone!
:) Dodie
The Invention of Wings is Sue Monk Kidd's fictional interpretation of Sarah Grimke, a real southern woman from South Carolina who despised slavery and who had significant issues with the traditional expectations for women in the early 1800's. The story details her life from age 11, as well as the life of her maid Hetty Handful (better known as Handful throughout of the story). Their stories are told in alternating chapters and they really are amazing stories. As would be expected of such a story, both women are searching desperately for freedom, just in very different ways. The are both looking to find their wings.
I loved that after the novel had concluded, Kidd gives us great, detailed information about the real Sarah Grimke and her family. I would not advise reading this first, as it really will ruin the story for you. There's so much of her real life in the plot of the novel that it might spoil things to read the historical account ahead of time. The interesting part of the history, however, is that Hetty is only mentioned briefly in most accounts as simply being the maid for Sarah. That's where her tiny part of history ends. What we read in the novel, therefore, is all a creation of Kidd, and it is brilliant. The hours and hours of research Kidd must've put into the writing of this book is commendable.
As I have written before when detailing my thoughts about these historical fiction works, I just can't imagine the daily struggles these women had to endure. Obviously, the hardships slaves had to endure are unspeakable, but even the daily lives of the white women are hard for me to now imagine. Now I know that I am writing this in 2014, a time when I can truly be anything I want to be--there are virtually no limits, provided that I have the financial means. This simple fact makes it so hard for me to imagine living at a time where my sole purpose in life was to be pretty, land a husband, and then make babies. Can you imagine, then, the number of women who were miserable? It couldn't just have been Sarah and her sister Nina. I'm sure that they were just the brave ones who stood up for themselves and spoke out against a reality they found abhorrent. While I certainly love being a mother and I love my husband and our life together, if I were dropped back in time, I doubt I'd fit into those typical female roles very well. Perhaps that is just my modern mind talking, but after reading this book, I no longer feel as though those Southern ladies of the past had an easy life going off to social events and letting others raise their children. I bet they would envy my crazy life of carpools, juggling work and home, and the fact that I own a home and a car! Life is all about perspective and The Invention of Wings certainly has functioned to change mine. I am grateful for my wings.
Happy reading everyone!
:) Dodie
Monday, March 3, 2014
#17: The Marriage Bargain by Jennifer Probst
When you read so much amazing literature, every now and then you need to take a break and read something that isn't so challenging. I found just that in The Marriage Bargain.
A book that took me a mere 3 hours to read.
This is the perfect, feel good story to throw in your beach bag, and you might even be inclined to leave it in the hotel room or beach house for the next person to find and read. I don't feel compelled to keep this book on my shelf, nor do I feel the need to protect this book as I often do, not wanting anyone else but me to read and enjoy it. It was just a good, light book that made me smile, and desperately miss my husband, who is currently in London.
The Marriage Bargain is a story told time and time again: man inherits a small fortune but can only access it when he takes a wife. Even though I knew that Nick and Alexa would fall in the love by the end of the book, as all stories that begin this way must, I was not able to anticipate how is came to be, which was the refreshing twist to what could been a tired story.
My heart was warmed on this snow day away from school.
Happy reading everyone!
:) Dodie
A book that took me a mere 3 hours to read.
This is the perfect, feel good story to throw in your beach bag, and you might even be inclined to leave it in the hotel room or beach house for the next person to find and read. I don't feel compelled to keep this book on my shelf, nor do I feel the need to protect this book as I often do, not wanting anyone else but me to read and enjoy it. It was just a good, light book that made me smile, and desperately miss my husband, who is currently in London.
The Marriage Bargain is a story told time and time again: man inherits a small fortune but can only access it when he takes a wife. Even though I knew that Nick and Alexa would fall in the love by the end of the book, as all stories that begin this way must, I was not able to anticipate how is came to be, which was the refreshing twist to what could been a tired story.
My heart was warmed on this snow day away from school.
Happy reading everyone!
:) Dodie
#16: Honeymoon in Paris by Jojo Moyes
After being so moved by The Last Letter from Your Lover yesterday, I did a little research and discovered that Moyes has several books about to hit the shelves (perhaps I should just pre-order them and be surprised when they appear on my doorstep) and this wonderful little novella, Honeymoon in Paris, that functions as the prequel to The Girl You Left Behind. Of course I downloaded it, along with a second book called Windfallen. I read the novella in under an hour. It was fabulous, and a must read BEFORE you read TGYLB. I'm glad that I discovered it and was able to read this short story that establishes the love between Sophie and Edouard while told as a parallel to Liv and David. But, I think the effect would be greater had the novella actually been included with TGYLB. Although, the sentimentalist in me loved being able to recall the beautiful after story with each word that I read.
So, the moral of the story is, if you've already read TGYLB, go ahead and read the novella, Honeymoon in Paris. But if you haven't read it, read the novella before you read the novel. Bottom line, read The Girl You Left Behind. It's amazing!
So, the moral of the story is, if you've already read TGYLB, go ahead and read the novella, Honeymoon in Paris. But if you haven't read it, read the novella before you read the novel. Bottom line, read The Girl You Left Behind. It's amazing!
Sunday, March 2, 2014
#15: The Last Letter from Your Lover by Jojo Moyes
Jojo Moyes has become my new favorite modern author. No matter what topics she chooses to explore in her novels, she captures me, draws me in, and leaves me breathless when the story is over, filled to the brim with emotion.
First, it happened when I read Me Before You. Then, it happened again when I read The Girl You Left Behind. Today, it happened with The Last Letter from Your Lover. I am still trying to fight back the tears and the emotions this book has stirred up.
I devoured this book in 36 hours. Devoured. I only wish I had been sitting in a beach chair with a warm breeze blowing through my hair and sun warming my skin. That's the only way that reading this book would've gotten any better.
The Last Letter from Your Lover is the story of Jessica, Larry (Laurence), and Anthony (Boot). It is told in three parts and alternates between present day and the 1960's, which I typically like but in this book it confused me for a while. I honestly had no idea that part of the story was being told in flashbacks--but that was my negligence, not the author's. Perhaps I was reading too quickly and missed the details.
The story begins with Jessica in the hospital recovering from a head injury. No details are given about the car accident that resulted in this injury, however. That comes much later in the story. (I will admit that while I was reading this first part of the story, I had flashbacks to What Alice Forgot, and hoped that I was not going to be disappointed by Moyes' story because they both began in such similar ways. This is where the similarity ends, so no worries, my reader friends!) She can not really remember anything about her life (hence my association with What Alice Forgot ) and she relies on friends and family to help her fill in the gaps. One day as she is rearranging things in her bedroom, she finds a letter tucked inside a book. It's vague, signed only "B," but it changes her life. It is at the moment that she realizes, she's got a lover. Only, she has no idea who he is or how their relationship came to be, but she realizes then that she must figure it all out and she must find him.
Once we get enough of Jessica's story to be totally enthralled, and to have had a couple of moments where you shriek out loud by a plot twist or turn (thank goodness I was home alone--my family gives me strange looks when I do this in their presence), we are introduced to Ellie, who is leading a very similar life to Jessica's, only in 2003. Eventually, the two stories become one (as all brilliantly written stories must) and when I closed the book and read the last few words, I was sobbing from this beautifully told love story.
I challenge even the most stoic, love-stories-are-fluff kind of reader to not be touched by this one. There's so much substance to the story I can't imagine relating to it in one way or another. I think I was so overwhelmed by all of it, that the only response I was capable of as I closed the book was to cry. Here's why: the story--in two separate pieces--touches on every woman's (OK--maybe not every woman, but most women) greatest fear: will someone ever love me more than anything else in the world? Will I ever be the most important thing to someone? Jessica deals with this issue and so does Ellie. What makes the story so compelling is that Jessica is dealing with the 1960's version of this dilemma while Ellie faces it in 2003. Some conflicts are timeless, I suppose. I wondered in high school if someone would ever love me that much, and I wondered again in my mid-30's (and yes, I was married at the time). At 40, I was able to conclude that someone DOES love me that much and lucky me, I married him! But all of that fear came flooding back as I read Jessica and Ellie's stories. And worse, the fear of losing this love was what finally pushed me over the edge and started the waterworks. Once you've had that love, how do you move on when suddenly it's gone? Oh. I just can't even think about it sometimes. It's a paralyzing thought.
The Last Letter from Your Lover, as with the two previous Moyes books, has satiated me to the point that I do not wish to pick up another book for a few days. I want to keep this one in my heart for a bit longer.
I might have just stumbled upon 2014's #1 read.
Happy reading everyone!
:) Dodie
First, it happened when I read Me Before You. Then, it happened again when I read The Girl You Left Behind. Today, it happened with The Last Letter from Your Lover. I am still trying to fight back the tears and the emotions this book has stirred up.
I devoured this book in 36 hours. Devoured. I only wish I had been sitting in a beach chair with a warm breeze blowing through my hair and sun warming my skin. That's the only way that reading this book would've gotten any better.
The Last Letter from Your Lover is the story of Jessica, Larry (Laurence), and Anthony (Boot). It is told in three parts and alternates between present day and the 1960's, which I typically like but in this book it confused me for a while. I honestly had no idea that part of the story was being told in flashbacks--but that was my negligence, not the author's. Perhaps I was reading too quickly and missed the details.
The story begins with Jessica in the hospital recovering from a head injury. No details are given about the car accident that resulted in this injury, however. That comes much later in the story. (I will admit that while I was reading this first part of the story, I had flashbacks to What Alice Forgot, and hoped that I was not going to be disappointed by Moyes' story because they both began in such similar ways. This is where the similarity ends, so no worries, my reader friends!) She can not really remember anything about her life (hence my association with What Alice Forgot ) and she relies on friends and family to help her fill in the gaps. One day as she is rearranging things in her bedroom, she finds a letter tucked inside a book. It's vague, signed only "B," but it changes her life. It is at the moment that she realizes, she's got a lover. Only, she has no idea who he is or how their relationship came to be, but she realizes then that she must figure it all out and she must find him.
Once we get enough of Jessica's story to be totally enthralled, and to have had a couple of moments where you shriek out loud by a plot twist or turn (thank goodness I was home alone--my family gives me strange looks when I do this in their presence), we are introduced to Ellie, who is leading a very similar life to Jessica's, only in 2003. Eventually, the two stories become one (as all brilliantly written stories must) and when I closed the book and read the last few words, I was sobbing from this beautifully told love story.
I challenge even the most stoic, love-stories-are-fluff kind of reader to not be touched by this one. There's so much substance to the story I can't imagine relating to it in one way or another. I think I was so overwhelmed by all of it, that the only response I was capable of as I closed the book was to cry. Here's why: the story--in two separate pieces--touches on every woman's (OK--maybe not every woman, but most women) greatest fear: will someone ever love me more than anything else in the world? Will I ever be the most important thing to someone? Jessica deals with this issue and so does Ellie. What makes the story so compelling is that Jessica is dealing with the 1960's version of this dilemma while Ellie faces it in 2003. Some conflicts are timeless, I suppose. I wondered in high school if someone would ever love me that much, and I wondered again in my mid-30's (and yes, I was married at the time). At 40, I was able to conclude that someone DOES love me that much and lucky me, I married him! But all of that fear came flooding back as I read Jessica and Ellie's stories. And worse, the fear of losing this love was what finally pushed me over the edge and started the waterworks. Once you've had that love, how do you move on when suddenly it's gone? Oh. I just can't even think about it sometimes. It's a paralyzing thought.
The Last Letter from Your Lover, as with the two previous Moyes books, has satiated me to the point that I do not wish to pick up another book for a few days. I want to keep this one in my heart for a bit longer.
I might have just stumbled upon 2014's #1 read.
Happy reading everyone!
:) Dodie
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