A milestone week as this was the first book I've read on my new IPad!! Been fighting the Kindle thing for a looong time, but when it was plopped on my lap after breakfast in bed birthday morning how could i refuse? And the more I thought about it the more it made sense. Though I still love the feel of a 'real' book in my hands, I always feel sort of bad about buying a book then getting rid of it when I'm done. This way I'm saving paper and no unwanted books cramming my bookshelves!
And this one would be on the 'unwanted' shelf. Her first book "Sarah's Key" was good, not great. It helped pass the time at the pool in Florida last spring and the writing was better than ok. This one, in my humble opinion, is a typical second book... i.e. first time bestseller author is given a 2nd book contract, she collects her advance and sleepwalks through the effort.
Here's the Amazon re-cap of the book: Parisian architect Antoine Rey and his sister, Mélanie, celebrate her 40th birthday on the island where they vacationed as children with their mother, until she died there in 1974. Upon returning, Mélanie is gripped by a shocking repressed memory and loses control of the car. After a brief spell of amnesia, she tells her brother what it was she remembered: their mother had been in love with a woman. As a skeptical Antoine investigates this twist in their mother's past, an upsetting chain of events unfurls: his daughter's best friend drops dead of a heart condition at only 14 years of age; his teenage son is arrested; and he learns that his father is dying of cancer. Antoine gets support in his quest from a new lover, a Harley-riding mortician who teaches him how respecting death helps one to embrace life.
Lots to pick apart here... mom was a lesbian in the 70s and couldn't 'come out'? Mom died at a young age and half of the book is a who-done-it of sorts, except (sorry to spill the beans), burns out she wasn't murdered...oops, there goes the plot.
Anyway, a waste of a week though I see it has gotten decent reviews so i'd love to hear what others think?
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