... written by Sarah Jio. Published by Penguin Books in 2012. Another selection found at the library, randomly chosen off the shelf in the section of recorded books, so I 'read' it while driving (even more dangerous than talking on the phone?!) It was sort of difficult to follow - as are many stories when written from two different points of view: the author skips back and forth in time or the narration is done by two characters. This book had both, so it was a struggle to jump from one to the other as the story unfolded in two different centuries as told by two women.
The back story, the one that occurred in the 1930's was of a mother, Vera Ray, whose son disappeared when she went to work one night during a rare May snowstorm. She was poor and struggled to manage financially, worked as a maid in a hotel, treated like a second-class citizen as was common in that era. She searched endlessly for young Daniel, though the boy was considered dispensable by authorities, and she was blamed as being a negligent, unfit, uncaring mother. Complicated story, but I will not reveal any spoilers.
Claire Aldridge is a young reporter, assigned to write a story about that unusual snow, when eighty years later, a storm occurs on that same date in early May. In researching the weather anomaly, she discovers an article about Vera and and report of a missing child. Determined to know more, she begins asking questions, digging through old files and documents for answers. Surprises abound. Even though her efforts to discover the truth of the incident that occurred decades ago are discouraged, she persists and finds she has a personal connection with that obscure story, accidentally unearthed from the distant past.
It was interesting, a plot with some unexpected twists. As I said, slow going due to having to be aware of the changes from one century to the other - and might have been easier to follow if I had been reading it in print, rather than listening. But a good story - of the sort you see made into a movie.
No comments:
Post a Comment