Denise

This novel really reinforced my love for all of Sarah Jio's novels. This does follow the same vein of most of her other novels as that it follows two women (one from the past and one from the present) that are struggling with sadness in their life. Ada is the woman from the present and she is struggling with a tragedy she faced that took her family away from her, while Penny is the woman from the past and she is dealing with the loneliness she feels as her artist husband is constantly away from her.

I always enjoy that in Sarah Jio's novels both women have such striking similarities in their lives. I loved getting to read about both the women's' interactions with the same people, and seeing how those characters have grown since 1959. One thing that I thought was a bit awkward about this book was the scene in which we finally find out how Ada's family died. Maybe it was the way they died but it just seemed very abrupt and very awkward.

I was kept guessing throughout the book as to what really happened to Penny. Most of the time I was wrong. I really loved all the twists at the end, and was pretty excited that I did manage to guess some of them. The main twist that I did manage to guess was:

If you are a fan of Sarah Jio's other novels, you will love this one. I won this from a Librarything Early Reviewer's Giveaway. The content of my review is in no way affected by that.

(Reading Updates after the break)

Page 86:

This is similar to most of Sarah Jio's other novels. This follows two women (Ada and Penny), one from the present day and one from the past, whose lives are both touched by sadness (one from a tragedy, and one from loneliness) and are eerily similar. I am really connecting with both women. I really like that both women have met/know some of the same people living in the houseboats. At this point we know that both Ada's husband and daughter have passed away but we don't know how. For some reason every time I read a Sarah Jio novel I am always really fascinated by the woman from the past, and this book is no exception. I am looking forward to reading more about Ada and Penny and seeing if anything happens with Collin and Alex.

Delivered:

This little beauty was just dropped off by UPS. I love Sarah Jio's novels and am thrilled to have won this one.