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This is a place for my opinions on what I read, some movies or whatever else I find interesting. I love reading. I can find something positive about everything I read, at least I hope I can. I understand it takes a great deal of love and effort to write a book and to get it published. An author does not set out to write a crappy book, this is/was their baby. They got up at all hours of the night to feed it.

I don't see how you can give a true review of a book rushing through it. Don't you need to savor it a bit? I don't want my opinion to discourage anyone from reading. I hope you find something here you find interesting.

I buy most of my books, I get a few ARC, and I visit my library when my funds are low. I'm not trying to get you to buy anything by my opinions on the books I've read. I don't care if you buy it, borrow it, or check it out at the library. Just read. :)


Friday, April 2, 2010

The Swimming Pool


AUTHOR: Holly LeCraw
PAGES: 320
WEBSITE: http://hollylecraw.com/
TWITTER: @hollylecraw
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Holly LeCraw lives outside of Boston with her husband, who is a journalist, and three kids. Her short fiction and book reviews have appeared in a range of publications, including the
Edge City Review and the Boston Book Review. Her short fiction was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Though a newcomer as a novelist, she grew up in the book industry.
ACQUIRED: ARC courtesy of publisher DOUBLEDAY

SUMMARY: (from book jacket)
Seven summers ago, Marcella Atkinson fell in love with Cecil McClatchey, a married father of two. But on the same night their romance abruptly ended, Cecil's wife was found murdered. The case was never solved, and Cecil died soon after, an uncharged suspect.

Now divorced and estranged from her only daughter, Marcella lives alone, mired in grief and guilt. Meanwhile, Cecil's grown son, Jed, returns to the Cape with his sister for the first time in years. When he finds a woman's bathing suit buried in a closet-a relic, unbeknownst to him, of his father's affair-he decides to confront Marcella on a hunch.

When, to their deep surprise, they fall into an affair of their won, passion temporarily masks their shared pain. But as we are left to believe on the last stunning page, the betrayals of the past cannot be ignored and will have a ripple effect on these two families for years to come.

OPINION:
Holly LeCraw is a mastermind at creating characters. The loneliness, the innocent, the lusting, the betrayed and hurting characters are so well written you can't hate them. You sense what has driven each character to the place they are today and even though you might find some of them morally wrong it is hard to pass judgment on them when you hear how tortured they are within their own minds and how they just long to be punished.
Jed's sister, Callie, I found particularly interesting. She was in college, just as Jed, when she lost her mother. Now with the lose of both parents and the arrival of a new baby, life has just swallowed her whole. This is a character I would normally hate but Holly wrote her so well I could understand her maddening world she was living in.
A book of mystery. Just when every character seems to have gotten their answers and some sort of peace the book takes a twist and nothing is what it seems.
Perfect beach and summer read full of mystery, love, desperation and believable characters.

2 comments:

  1. This has been on my wishlist for a while. Thanks for the review! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. This sounds like something I'd love to read: romance, mystery and a bit of suspense.

    ReplyDelete

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Book Odor Removal:

I bought a book at a library book sale, it had a strange odor. Someone gave me this suggestion to remove the smell, and it worked, so I thought I'd share.
Put the book in a ziploc bag along with 1/3 cup(more or less) of Arm & Hammer baking soda and seal shut. Leave the book alone for 2 or 3 days. It worked for me, hope it helps you too.

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