Alice Hoffman is one of my favorite authors, so I was eager to tackle this one, and yet, meh. Two mothers, one who put her daughter up for adoption and has carried the secret with her (Lila), and one who is facing an unplanned pregnancy (Rae) have their lives interwoven through serendipitous means. This is a tale of tragedy, hope, and forgiveness, and how small missteps can irrevocably change the lives of our protagonists, and those around them.
Magical realism is usually my jam, but I found these elements this time around to be forced and, well, kind of annoying. I was unable to suspend my disbelief enough for some of the more far-fetched devices, and instead of relating to the characters and pulling for them I found myself rolling my eyes and speed reading.
Also, I have a real issue when people in relationships ice out their partner, it’s just a button with me, so as Lila tries to face her demons alone, I just wanted to shake her. Tell your super nice and understanding husband!!! Also, watching Rae wallow in a bad relationship made me very tired, another button with me.
Similar to my recent read of Rebecca Wells I have found that maybe my tastes have changed. I have taken over the past few years to reading three books at once: I have grown to like the variety, and it lights a proverbial fire under me to keep going. That being said, I fear that maybe that fire has grown too bright, so I have turned reading into more of a chore than a leisure activity so I’m going to downgrade it a little and see if it changes how I feel about the books I have read.
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