This book gripped me from the very first page. I started in the morning, took a few breaks for lunch and dinner and couldn't put it down until I was finished. The story is told from the viewpoint of a 12 year old girl; it's authentic and has such truth to it that you can't help but be immersed in her life, dreams, worries, and thoughts. Loved this book!

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Shreve's writing is crisp, compelling and evocative, as always ~ her story engrossing. I found it difficult to put this one down, especially as I got to the sections dealing with what lead to the baby's abandonment. Shreve writes of grief and hope with undeniable skill.

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a mesmerizing story of the secrets we keep and the secrets we unearth, and the power of forgiveness to mend even the most battered souls. A wonderful novel to read in the winter months! I loved this book!

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There's no doubt the writing in this novel was powerful and conveyed a lot in very little time, but there almost seemed to be nothing to the book. Aside from being predictable, the story was told in first-person, present tense, which is irritating, considering the narrator tells us she's 30 years old as she's relaying this.

The main character is a very believable 12-year old, but she annoyed me with her constant questioning and second-guessing herself and others. The events in the story are realistic and depict a situation that is plausible and could really happen.

I'm not impressed enough to read more of this author, and I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone but Shreve fans.

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A father and daughter go walking in the woods just before Christmas and find a newborn wrapped in a sleeping bag. One of Shreve's best, this book deals with love, loss, and family responsibility.

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I enjoyed this book.It was a little slow in the middle but really grabbed me and kept my interest right to the end.

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After Nicky loses her mother and baby sister in a tragic automobile accident, she and her father move to an isolated community in New Hampshire. He gives up his career as an architect and begins to make Shaker-style wooden furniture for a living. His grief practically paralyzed him and he has withdrawn into himself. More and more Nicky must be the adult one in the remaining family.

One day after school Nicky and her father went for a walk through the snowy woods on their property. Nicky thinks that she hears a baby crying but finds that implausible until suddenly her father hears the same thing. They trek toward the sound on their snowshoes and all at once see a 'light on snow' which turns out to be a newborn baby wrapped in a bloody towel and slipped inside a sleeping bag. Nicky's father scoops up the freezing baby and they hurriedly get back to the house and into their truck and head out over the icy roads to the hospital.

Nicky wants to keep the baby and has trouble understanding when her father says no, that they must get it to the hospital and let the authorities take care of matters.

Soon a bedraggled young woman shows up at their house pretending to be shopping for furniture for her parents' Christmas gift. But Nicky and her father both figure out that the girl has seen the papers and found out that this family is the one that found her baby. The girl has not yet recovered from the birth and does not have the strength to leave so they take her in 'just until she is fit' to go.

The characters in this story are interesting and I can see how someone in both Nicky and her father's situation might react as they did...........up until they took the birth mother in. But the book was interesting and Anita Shreve always spins a good tale.

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I really liked this book. It's about a man and his daughter trying to heal from the loss of his wife and her mother. In the middle of a snow storm the daughter finds an abandoned baby wrapped up in a flannel shirt lying in the snow. They take it in, but do to the circumstances (weather) they can't turn it over to the authorities. Soon they become attached. But what will they do when the mother of the child shows up . . .

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The BEST Anita Shreve book and right up there with one of my all time favorite books. Very different and unexpected story line and keeps you wishing you were in the book as a character to help solve the puzzle.

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Interesting story about finding an abandoned baby and the relationship between a widower and his young daughter. Good, couldn't put it down and a quick read.

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This is a very good book. I couldn't put it down. This author makes you feel as if you are in the same room with them.

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I liked this book I thought it was pretty good I think most would enjoy it.

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Excellent. One of her best.

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Wonderfully written, unique perspective, page turner...

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Great story. Well written. Dramatic tension throughout. Excellent characters.

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another great tale from Anita. you really conjure up the characters and see the story as it unfolds.
easy light reading.

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I have only read a few by Anita Shreve, she is becoming one of my new favorite authors

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Awesome book! Great story for all ages!

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By the author of the Pilots wife. Very Compeling.

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Quick read - nice story but sad because of baby being abandoned

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Newborn found in the frozen country side.....left for dead? What happened to the birth mother?

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