At an inn in the Berkshire Mountains, seven former schoolmates gather to celebrate a wedding--a reunion that marks some startling revelations and past secrets. So part of the story is about the past (choices made) and part of it takes place in the present (paths not taken) and bizarrely enough the insert of a short story being written by one of the main characters while she is staying at the inn.

The wedding takes place in the December immediately following 9/11 and although it is a topic of conversation at the wedding it has no real relevance to the wedding story. It does however, mesh with the short story, as Agnes's tale involves a young doctor who was a part of the devastating Halifax explosion that took place in Canada during WWI. One would think this wouldn't work but I found myself completely involved in this parallel story line. 

After I read the book, I went off to read about Anita Shreve...I had read a couple of her books previously. This is Ms. Shreve's 12th novel. She also wove in a defining personal experience of her own--breast cancer as she explains "you write out your fears". 

I look forward to reading all of her books. She passed in 2018 at 71 but left a legacy of excellent novels. She had the gift.

What can I say-it was already in my TBR stack-and I needed a book to meet my December reading requirement. This reads like a Hallmark movie set mostly in London and paper thin even by Hallmark movie standards. Not my cup of tea. 

One of my reading projects is known as Book of the Month Club where my goal read a book with that particular month in the title for as long as the books hold out. I have separated out these books so they appear as separate months, it just looks cleaner that way.

2021

This is a book that sat on one of my shelves for many years. I needed a book for December so I decided that I would give it a go. Currently I am working a side gig as a nanny and needed something to read during nap times. I had been reading epistolary novels but thought that short stories might work as well to fill this time. 

Full disclosure, I am generally not a fan of the short story genre. This collection did not change my mind--I liked some of the stories and there is no doubt that he is a good author but... most of the stories popped out of nowhere into very dark versions of the world--starting in the middle and randomly ending well before the end of the story. In other words just as I am getting invested in the characters and the premise--the story ends. 

2022

Larry Macklin #2. The series just keeps getting better. Very quick reads.