Helpful Score: 11
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!
Helpful Score: 10
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.
Helpful Score: 9
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!
Helpful Score: 9
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.
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.
Helpful Score: 6
I enjoyed the author's writing, but not the story. Great characters, good descriptive writing, and an enchanting setting. However, the story itself was not believeable to me and I was often annoyed at the direction the story went. I really felt this COULD have been an outstanding book.
Helpful Score: 6
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.
Helpful Score: 6
I really could not get into this book. I have never read any other of Shreve's books but this one seemed trite and predictable.
Helpful Score: 4
this is the first book i've read by this author. it left me wanting her to write a second book just to see what happened to all of the characters, even three days later I was still thinking about the book. hard to put down once began.
Helpful Score: 3
Although I thought the story was a bit predictable, I fell in love with Nicole, the 12-year-old and I could not put this book down because the characters drew me in. It was an easy read and I would definitely recommend it.
Helpful Score: 3
This was a wonderful book that I could not put down! It took some interesting turns that I was not expecting. This is the first time I read a Shreve book and I will definately look for more.
Helpful Score: 2
As usual Anita Shreve had written a book that has all the emotional family interractions that are her forte. A young girl and her widowed father try to make a life without others, alone in escape. Wonderful story and engrossing. I enjoyed it thoroughly. GinaK
Helpful Score: 2
I loved this book, I thought it was Amazing I think every girl should read it when they are young. It was great, well written I wished the end was a bit different, but it was a great fast read.. Highly recomended.
Helpful Score: 2
This is a bittersweet story of how a coincident of timing brought life into the dreary existence of a widower and his twelve year old daughter. After his wife and two year old daughter are killed in an automobile accident, Robert Dillon attempts to escape reality by moving to an isolated part of New Hampshire. His older daughter, Nicky, beings to find answers to her questions about growing up and what it means to be a family when Charlotte shows up at their door. She is also trying to find answers. A two day snow storm binds them together in their isolation and search.
The emotions of each are clearly drawn out by the author and felt by the reader. Their meeting sets a new course for each while leaving an imprint on the others. Anita Shreve gives us a snapshot of time, life, and how events and decisions change us.
The emotions of each are clearly drawn out by the author and felt by the reader. Their meeting sets a new course for each while leaving an imprint on the others. Anita Shreve gives us a snapshot of time, life, and how events and decisions change us.
Helpful Score: 2
Wow! This book was so much more than I expected it to be. A father and daughter find an abondoned infant in the snow. It's a story about love and its consequences. Hard to put down!
Helpful Score: 2
A Wonderful book and was hard to put down. What happens when a daughter and her dad find a baby in the snow....the story behind it, the people behind it and how it affected all of them.
Helpful Score: 2
This was my first book by Anita Shreve. I couldn't wait to read it after checking out all the reviews, but was very disappointed. I thought it was well written, but did not care for the story at all. I found it to be anti-climatic and didn't feel as though the ending made the reading worthwhile.
Next on my list is The Pilot's Wife, also by Shreve. I hope its better and redeems this author in my eyes.
Next on my list is The Pilot's Wife, also by Shreve. I hope its better and redeems this author in my eyes.
Helpful Score: 2
Light on Snow is the story of a man grieving for his lost wife and his daughter's need for her lost mother. It's told with sympathy and compassion, in a way that leads the reader to feel their loss, and also to feel the healing that begins after they find a baby abandoned in the snow. Anita Shreve has written another wonderful story!
Helpful Score: 2
I love Anita Shreve. A 12 year old and her father find a baby abandoned in the snow...an unexpected visitor shows up at their house in the days following. Good read.
Helpful Score: 2
Another great story by Shreve. I was hooked from the start and could not put it down. Shreve does an excellent job creating and exploring different layers in her characters. It may seem like a simple story, but there is so much more going on under the surface.
Helpful Score: 1
Twelve year old Nicky Dillon and her father find an abandoned baby girl in the snow covered woods outside their New Hampshire home. What follows is a story of birth, death, loss, abandonment and family. This is definitely pure Anita Shreve- wrenching a strong emotional response from her readers. Not only do we learn the story of this baby but also the tragedy that led Nicky and her dad to be living in the woods of New Hampshire. Riveting.
Helpful Score: 1
This was a very fast read. The characters and the story were very capivating. I would love to read some more books by this author. I did not want to put this book down until the end.
Helpful Score: 1
I heard a lot of good things about Anita Shreve, but this book did not impress me at all. The plot was weak, the characters were not very well developed, and I just kept waiting for something interesting to happen...and it never did. I was very bored by this book, but plowed through it hoping it would get better.
Helpful Score: 1
I am a huge Anita Shreve fan and this is one of my favorites. It grabs your interest from page 1 and is a quick read.
Helpful Score: 1
Deeply moving and surprisingly funny in exactly the right measure
An evening's entertainment
A gem of a book!!
An evening's entertainment
A gem of a book!!
Helpful Score: 1
A differrent consept and writting style.Easy reading and holds your interest. Refreshing
in her lack of the need to use sex, profanity, and complicated mystery or plot.She tells the story of average people whos lives are changed by circumstances. How they interact with each other as well as their own lives . Very insiteful, shows emotions
intertwined.
in her lack of the need to use sex, profanity, and complicated mystery or plot.She tells the story of average people whos lives are changed by circumstances. How they interact with each other as well as their own lives . Very insiteful, shows emotions
intertwined.
Helpful Score: 1
This story really touched my heart and Anita's writing skills made it difficult to put the book down.
Helpful Score: 1
Just a story...and a great story at that! I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I read it in just a few days...a fast reader could read it in a day. It is a sad tale, an engrossing novel, a book that I am very glad that I had the opportunity to read. Anita Shreve is a wonderful writer. I wouldn't say that this is the most compelling of her books, but it is a fine accomplishment of a very fine author. I liked it. I will always remember the story line and the characters. A great read for a leisurely weekend!
Helpful Score: 1
A very good book. Easy to read. Read it in a day. I had to find out the outcome of a baby left on a doorstep!
Helpful Score: 1
This was a beautifully written book. I really enjoyed this. A 12-year old girl and her dad find a baby left out in the woods in the winter. Thankfully, the baby is alive and survives. The young girl and her dad lost the mom and baby sister in a car wreck. They moved to New Hampshire. Every evening they take a walk together in the woods on snow shoes. That is how they discover the baby. The mother of the baby turns up at their house. Nicole has so many questions to ask her. The dad isnt friendly to the girl. She ends up staying with them for a few nights because of a snow storm. I really like Shreves books. One of my favorites.
Helpful Score: 1
This story takes you from the New Hampshire where a father and daughter try and start their lives over after the mother and daughter die in a auto accident. It takes you to a scene where they find a baby in the snow and the mother coming to them to thank them for finding her. Not her best, wasn't reality in some areas.
Helpful Score: 1
Fabulous ... I couldn't put it down. The best book I've read by her!
Helpful Score: 1
Great book. A little girl and her father find a baby alive in the snow and rescue it, then the mother shows up needing their help. I could hardly put this book down once I started it. It left me wanting to read more by this author.
Helpful Score: 1
I read it all the way through and found it well written, but dreary. When it was done, I thought it was a story better suited for the teen genre with the character development mostly focused on the 12 yr old daughter and her father and the very young mother who regretted her decisions. Maybe I just like a happier ending, but to me the story was depressing.
Helpful Score: 1
This is a sweet story that captured me from the moment father and daughter found the baby. Shreve is one of my favorite writers, and she did not let me down this time!
Helpful Score: 1
I liked this book but I wish it had a different happier ending
Helpful Score: 1
Very Good Book. Kept me interested to the end, wondering who done it. It ends but make a person think there could ever be a sequel?
Helpful Score: 1
A very qiuck read.The story seems like it could really happen. Would love a sequel to this story.
Helpful Score: 1
I have liked other Books she has written but I have to tell you this one kind of made me mad. The book was good I read it quit quickly however nothing really happens, no real ending!!!! I hate to admit that I am one of those people that like my ending wrapped up in a neat little bow. THIS WAS NOT IT.
Helpful Score: 1
Rich, full story. Characters are well written and emotional. A beautiful story.
Helpful Score: 1
Excellent! Immediately draws you in. Wonderful character development.
Helpful Score: 1
This book wasn't bad, but it didn't grab me like I felt it could've. Lots of potential for this story, but not sure it lived up to that. This was actually the first Anita Shreve I read (audiobook). I think each of her stories are very different, which is a good quality for an author to have.
Helpful Score: 1
This is the first Anita Shreve book I have ever read. It was just ok. Not bad but not great either. I wish that the story would have wrapped things up a little more at the end. I would like to know what happens to everybody in the future instead of just leaving it open ended.
Just finished this book and really liked it. Shreve's descriptions of scenery and characters are detailed, and I really felt like I got to know the characters. A good read.
A good winter's read. The book takes place in the cold of winter and the chill of relationship between a widower and his preteen daughter. A walk in the woods changes their lives' direction. A worthy read.
This book had me wrapped up and waiting for the end. I really enjoyed it and since have added a few more "to be read" Anita Shreve books to my shelf.
very good read.
After mother and baby die the father takes the remaining daughter and becomes a recluse in New England. On a walk in the woods they find a baby abandoned and left to die.
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.
A widower and his 12 year old daughter find an abandoned baby in the woods. Saving the child sets events into motion that help them come to grips with grief, compassion, and the beginning of a girl's journey into adulthood.
A good quick read.
A 12 year old and her family find a baby in the snow. Touching story!
I enjoyed this book.It was a little slow in the middle but really grabbed me and kept my interest right to the end.
Hardcover. I couldn\'t put it down. Finished it in a day.
This was the first book I had read by this author. I thought it was well written.
Compelling story. I found this book hard to put down.
Newborn found in the frozen country side.....left for dead? What happened to the birth mother?
By the author of the Pilots wife. Very Compeling.
another great tale from Anita. you really conjure up the characters and see the story as it unfolds.
easy light reading.
easy light reading.
I have only read a few by Anita Shreve, she is becoming one of my new favorite authors
Awesome book! Great story for all ages!
From the best selling author of The Pilot's Wife, comes a tender and surprising novel about love and its consequences.
This was a thought provoking book. The intense curiousity and coming of age of a 12 year old girl and the discovery of a baby left in the snow, provides for an excellent story.
A surprising story about love and its consequences!
Wonderfully written, unique perspective, page turner...
Great, suspenseful, full of "real" characters.
Great story about love and it's consequences.I enjoyed this book
Great story. Well written. Dramatic tension throughout. Excellent characters.
I found this book to be a really quick read and enjoyable. Life through the eyes of a 12 yr old girl, which if I would not have thought that I would enjoy. It really held my attention though.
I loved this book,..what a beautiful story. I couldnt put it down.
I liked this book I thought it was pretty good I think most would enjoy it.
It starts off fast but the middle is a little slow. But it was still a good book.
this was a very heartwarming book. I read it really quickly. It kept me wondering what would happen next.
Another great read by Anita Shreve. Couldn't put it down..
A great story and quite different.
snowshoeing over crusted snow in the woods near their home , 12 year old nicky and her father come across something shocking, an abandoned baby! very heartfelt story,
Fascinating look into the dynamics of family dynamics.
Excellent. One of her best.
Excellent story of a father and daughter, how they manage the traumas of life and losing their mother (wife) and sister (daughter). It's a feel good book with some touching moments. Not all sappy, but a wonderful read!
Snowshoeing in the woods near their home, nicky dillon and her father come upon something shocking. There in the pristine winter scene, and abandoned baby.
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.
Excellent. Couldn't put it down.
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.
Very good book, the voice of the 12 year old, while she of course is very wise, is refreshing to read. Too short though
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.
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.
Quick read - nice story but sad because of baby being abandoned
I read this book in one afternoon. Just loved it!!!
A close up portrait of a father & daughter thrown together in their grief. The questions of what led to the babys abandonment and how the plucky, smart, but still childish narator will come to terms with such human evil maked it difficult to put down. A story of memory and love.
Another excellant yarn by AS. Love her books as I also live in New England
Book Club read, most members enjoyed it. About a baby who has been abandonded and discovered by adolecent girl and her father. Story is told by young girl and how the baby became abandonded. Good heart warming story. 1 reader, book is in excellent condition.
Twelve year old Nicky Dillon wonders what makes a family after she and her father discover a wailing abandoned baby in the snow filled woods near their home. Through the days that follow, the story unfolds weaving the Dillon family and the other characters involving the baby together. A fast, great read!!
What makes a family? Nicky Dillon wonders after she and her widowed father discover a wailing abandoned baby in the snow-filled woods near their New Hampshire home. Through the days that follow, the Dillons and the unexpected visitor who soon turns up at their door--a young woman evidently haunted by her own terrible choices. Will this meeting carry heartbreak or redemption?
I'm an Anita Shreve fan and loved this book. Her main character,Nicky is a charming,intelligent girl who learns some painful lessons about life. She reacts with grace and wisdom beyond her years making her a very likable character that one would like to befriend. I would love to see this one made into a movie.
This was a very touching book. Hard to put down!
This book held my interest right from the start. I couldn't wait to sit down and keep reading and find out the ending. I would recommend this book.
A nice story about a young girl learning some life long lessons.
Fabulous read!
What makes a family? Thats's what twelve-year old Nicky Dillon wonders after she and her widowed father discover a wailing abandoned baby in the snow-filled woods near their New Hampshire home. Through the days that follow, the Dillons and the unexpected vistor who turns up at their door-a young woman evidently haunted by her own terrible choices-face a thicket of decisions, each seeming to carry equal possibilities of heartbreak or redemption.
Wonderful story, beautifully written! Fast Read.
I LOVED this book. It was moving and I couldn't put it down. I've lost a child, so it meant a lot to me as I read it. The characters are very real.
Very well written book. Easy to read. Ending was not what I expected, but it is a break out of the mold. Everything in life does not end up in the pretty little package we expect.
A good subway read
A good story that keeps you involved.
Good, quick read. It really pulled me in!
Engrossing book, Couldnt put it down.
Another Great Anita Shreve novel!
A single dad and his daughter find a baby in the snow. This is the story of how they begin to live again after a tragedy changed their lives. Another great Shreve.
The setting is the snowy woods of New Hampshire. A good book to curl up with on a cold winter evening.
Moving story. I really enjoyed this book.
What makes a family? That's what twelve-year-old Nicky Dillon wonders after she and her widowed father discover a wailing abandoned baby in the snow-filled woods near their New Hampshire home. Through the days that follow, the Dillons and the unexpected visitor who soon turns up at their door- a young woman evidently haunted by her own terrible choices - face a thicket of decisions, each seeming to carry equal possibilities of heartbreak or redemption. Writing with all the emotional resonance that has drawn millions of readers around the world to her fiction, Anita Shreve unfolds in Light on Snow a tender and surprising novel about love and its consequences.
Great book, lots of detail, read it all in one sitting!
Great book, lots of detail, read it all in one sitting!
Another WONDERFUL book by Anita Shreve. She is a master!
Great story. Nice read.
This book was a quick read. I enjoyed it, but I wanted it to continue on. There could definitely be a sequal to this story. I love all of her books.
I enjoyed this book about interaction between father and daughter in unusual circumstances. Easy to read and follow the story line.
Excellent book.. My first Anita Shreve read and I loved it.
A moving story, makes you think.
This was very moving. Sad, funny, and heartwrenching at times. Really loved it.
A father and daughter, who have suffered great grief, go for a walk in the snow and discover a newborn baby wrapped in a sleeping bag. This is a beautiful story about the transformation of grief into hope. Very engrossing. I wasn't ready for it to end.
I just read the a review of this book and the reader was not impressed. Well, I was! Now this is not classical literature, but it is engaging. I've had this book on my nightstand for a while now. Winter is almost upon us, and this past Saturday was cold and rainy outside. Thinking this was an appropriate title for this time of year, I picked the book up and began to read. About two hours later, my husband poked his head in the bedroom door and jokingly asked, "Is this what you are going to do all day?" I gleefully replied, "Absolutely!"
My heart ached for every character in this book, and I quickly felt at home inside the young girl's thoughts. Her (and her father's) pain is very present upon the pages, but there is joy found within, as well. There's no real suspense here, just warm, beautiful people who you wish were close by so you could hug them. Also, the description of the small town and surrounding landscape made me feel like I knew the place.
The whole book is a story of salvation, told through wise, 12-year old eyes. A very worthy read for a day spent in bed! Loved it!
My heart ached for every character in this book, and I quickly felt at home inside the young girl's thoughts. Her (and her father's) pain is very present upon the pages, but there is joy found within, as well. There's no real suspense here, just warm, beautiful people who you wish were close by so you could hug them. Also, the description of the small town and surrounding landscape made me feel like I knew the place.
The whole book is a story of salvation, told through wise, 12-year old eyes. A very worthy read for a day spent in bed! Loved it!
This story is about a father and daughter whom hiking in the snow come upon a baby in the woods and how they cope with taking care of the baby and a young girl that stops by.
Very enjoyable - reads very quickly! Really delves into what it means to be a family
what a powerful theme... that people find those they need to find in life... great characters...
Nicky Dillon and her widowed father discover a wailing abandoned baby in the snow-filled woods near their new hampshire home. deeply moving and surprisingly funny in exactly the right measure.
Absolutely loved this book, intriguing, couldn't put it down.
This is such a great book and a very fast read! I highly recommend this book!
I loved this book! It was an easy, fast paced read.
Anita Shreve takes the story of finding an infant left out in winter and turns it into an exploration of loss, love, birth and forgiveness. A good and quick read, you will think about the issues but love the characters.
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 . . .
I loved this book. Great story.
This family drama focuses on a father and teenage daughter trying to cope with the death of their family {mom, sibling} about a year ago. Dad's hiding in a small town when suddenly they come across an abandoned newborn in the woods. What follows is interesting and changes their lives forever.
Touching story of a young preteen and her dad, who stumble upon a newborn baby girl in the woods behind their house. As the story unfolds, the girl and her dad find healing from their own personal tragedy.
This book was a quick read. I started it and couldn't put it down. It gave a lot of insight about the grieving process after loosing a spouse and how that can effect a child. It also dealt with teen pregnancy. I recommend this book!
Beautiful story! How does Anita Shreve keep coming up with fresh, new ideas for her stories. This one is about a very precocious 12 year old girl who lost her mother and baby sister in a tragic accident. She and her broken father move from NY and settle in New Hampshire accidentally - or maybe there was a reason. It is unbelievably cold and snows constantly yet they are very capable of surviving the miserable weather. Both she and her father are very resourceful and this little 12 year old girl is wise beyond her years. Anita Shreve hints at other stories here and there that happen to the 2 main characters later in their lives - just little hints that let you know they went on to lead productive lives despite the tragedy they both overcame. And then they find a baby in the twilight in the snow and the biting cold. The book is their story as well as the baby and the baby's parents - complicated lives make fascinating reading. This is a good one, tho not light reading. Very disturbing because some of life's problems have no easy solutions and life flows on anyway.
An intersting story of familial relationships after the loss of a family member. And a commentary on how something (someone) else steps in to fill the void and change the hopelessness of the family's outlook.
I could not put this one down.
I think this could be a wonderful book if I had the inkling to analize all of it. I don't.
It was an easy read but not very interesting. I usually read fantasy, thriller or horror books, so this wasn't for me. I selected it because I thought the people finding the baby wound keep it making it more interesting. However this book is all about emotions of the characters which I don't enjoy.
New Hampshire in winter--a 12 yr old girl and her grieving widowed father discover an abandoned baby in the snow-filled woods near their home. National Bestseller. Emotionally resonant, paced, with memorable characters.
If you have never read Anita Shreve you should.
12 yr old Nicky Dillon and father come upon something shocking in the woods near their home, an abandoned baby wails, and in the days and weeks that follow she glimpes corners of the adult world she never dreamed existed. For the first time Nicky questions her strange life's shape. Why her father moved to the isolated New England farmhouse, the fate of the baby girl, and the arrival of a young woman haunted by her own terrible mistakes. Together, Nicky, her father, and this woman must work their way through a thicket of their decisions, each one seeming to carry equal possibilities of heartbreak or redemption.
12 yr old Nicky Dillon and father come upon something shocking in the woods near their home, an abandoned baby wails, and in the days and weeks that follow she glimpes corners of the adult world she never dreamed existed. For the first time Nicky questions her strange life's shape. Why her father moved to the isolated New England farmhouse, the fate of the baby girl, and the arrival of a young woman haunted by her own terrible mistakes. Together, Nicky, her father, and this woman must work their way through a thicket of their decisions, each one seeming to carry equal possibilities of heartbreak or redemption.
Can relate to the daughter's point of view ....and the dad trying to raise his daughter - both of them grieving. I love the introduction of the main character toward the end!
Heavy story line, but excellent read. Loved it
Great book for pass thebtime travel reading
Wonderful book - couldn't put it down.
Great story!
Quick easy read.
A quick read right in time for the holiday season!
Interesting coming of age story narrated by an impressionable, lonely young woman with a challenging moral dilemma.
A tale of grief and lose, redemption and family.. The wintry New England landscape parallels the physical and emotional isolation of her father-and-daughter protagonists, and her writing, spare and unshowy, has near-perfect pitch.
Twelve-year-old Nicky Dillon (short for Nicole) and her father, Robert, are snowshoeing along on a walk in the woods when they find an abandoned baby in the snow, a girl. They rush her to the hospital, and her life is saved. But the major emotional event of the story has occurred before the book even begins, for Nicky and Robert are outsiders both by virtue of their location (the farmhouse they live in is at the end of a long, badly rutted road) and because of the car accident that killed Nicky's mother and her baby sister, Clara, three years ago. In a series of flashbacks, we become acquainted with the family, before and after. One day Nicky was a normal kid in Westchester; the next, she was moving with this grim, silent man to an old New Hampshire farmhouse.
The symmetry is inescapable --- one child lost; another rescued --- and it is not lost on Nicky. She mourns partly through fantasy, imagining what Clara would be like if she were still growing; she also pictures what would happen if she and her father adopted the baby they found in the snow. Robert, however, remains almost unreachable in his grief: "[It] has no texture now --- no tears, no ache in the throat, no rage," Nicky observes, watching him in his workshop in the barn (a former architect, he makes limited-edition furniture). "It is simply darkness, I think, a cloak that sometimes makes it hard for him to breathe."
Nicky is very much on her own; except for Christmas, when her grandmother comes to take care of them for a few days, she accepts that she must be the one who remembers to buy food or reminds her father to shave and wash his hair. At the same time, she yearns not only for her mother and sister, but also for a sense of normality: They have no TV, they don't read newspapers; they eat in the den, on trays; people rarely come to the house. Nicky goes to school, reads, knits and makes bead jewelry, and works on the mural of mountains that she is painting on her bedroom wall. She is an entrancing character, weirdly grown-up, yet also a kid who wants Drake's cakes, Ring Dings, 20 colors of nail polish --- and a woman to confide in.
Enter Charlotte, a young woman who comes to the house claiming to be a customer for Robert's furniture but who soon confesses that she is the mother of the baby they found --- she has read about the rescue in the newspaper and is desperate for news of her daughter. A blizzard traps Charlotte in the house, and gradually we learn the truth behind the horrifying discovery in the snow. In this respect, the book is a bit of a suspense novel, an imaginative reconstruction of what might lie behind those lurid newspaper headlines about teenagers dumping their unwanted infants in the garbage. Shreve maintains the tension well, making us curious to know the exact nature of the parallel tragedies that afflicted Charlotte and the Dillon family, letting out the answers a little at a time.
But it is on a deeper level that the book really succeeds. With Charlotte's presence in the Dillon house, we see Nicky's profound hunger for a friend. Although Charlotte is nearly as crushed by despair and regret as Robert, she is also younger and more resilient, and she responds to Nicky's obvious need. Emotional possibilities open up: "My father and I are technically a family," Nicky muses, "but it's a word neither of us would ever use. Yes, we are father and daughter, but because we were once members of a family that was torn apart, we think of ourselves now as half a family or a shadow family. As we sit there with our trays on our laps, however, I feel, or perhaps only imagine, a 'family' consisting of my father, Charlotte, and me." Perhaps it is only when a family is destroyed and must rebuild itself that we become aware of what it means to have one.
Twelve-year-old Nicky Dillon (short for Nicole) and her father, Robert, are snowshoeing along on a walk in the woods when they find an abandoned baby in the snow, a girl. They rush her to the hospital, and her life is saved. But the major emotional event of the story has occurred before the book even begins, for Nicky and Robert are outsiders both by virtue of their location (the farmhouse they live in is at the end of a long, badly rutted road) and because of the car accident that killed Nicky's mother and her baby sister, Clara, three years ago. In a series of flashbacks, we become acquainted with the family, before and after. One day Nicky was a normal kid in Westchester; the next, she was moving with this grim, silent man to an old New Hampshire farmhouse.
The symmetry is inescapable --- one child lost; another rescued --- and it is not lost on Nicky. She mourns partly through fantasy, imagining what Clara would be like if she were still growing; she also pictures what would happen if she and her father adopted the baby they found in the snow. Robert, however, remains almost unreachable in his grief: "[It] has no texture now --- no tears, no ache in the throat, no rage," Nicky observes, watching him in his workshop in the barn (a former architect, he makes limited-edition furniture). "It is simply darkness, I think, a cloak that sometimes makes it hard for him to breathe."
Nicky is very much on her own; except for Christmas, when her grandmother comes to take care of them for a few days, she accepts that she must be the one who remembers to buy food or reminds her father to shave and wash his hair. At the same time, she yearns not only for her mother and sister, but also for a sense of normality: They have no TV, they don't read newspapers; they eat in the den, on trays; people rarely come to the house. Nicky goes to school, reads, knits and makes bead jewelry, and works on the mural of mountains that she is painting on her bedroom wall. She is an entrancing character, weirdly grown-up, yet also a kid who wants Drake's cakes, Ring Dings, 20 colors of nail polish --- and a woman to confide in.
Enter Charlotte, a young woman who comes to the house claiming to be a customer for Robert's furniture but who soon confesses that she is the mother of the baby they found --- she has read about the rescue in the newspaper and is desperate for news of her daughter. A blizzard traps Charlotte in the house, and gradually we learn the truth behind the horrifying discovery in the snow. In this respect, the book is a bit of a suspense novel, an imaginative reconstruction of what might lie behind those lurid newspaper headlines about teenagers dumping their unwanted infants in the garbage. Shreve maintains the tension well, making us curious to know the exact nature of the parallel tragedies that afflicted Charlotte and the Dillon family, letting out the answers a little at a time.
But it is on a deeper level that the book really succeeds. With Charlotte's presence in the Dillon house, we see Nicky's profound hunger for a friend. Although Charlotte is nearly as crushed by despair and regret as Robert, she is also younger and more resilient, and she responds to Nicky's obvious need. Emotional possibilities open up: "My father and I are technically a family," Nicky muses, "but it's a word neither of us would ever use. Yes, we are father and daughter, but because we were once members of a family that was torn apart, we think of ourselves now as half a family or a shadow family. As we sit there with our trays on our laps, however, I feel, or perhaps only imagine, a 'family' consisting of my father, Charlotte, and me." Perhaps it is only when a family is destroyed and must rebuild itself that we become aware of what it means to have one.
I liked the book, couldn't put it down but it left me wanting for more of these characters.
Another one of her can't put down novels. The characters are so real you feel like you know them personally. There is something touching and compelling about all of her stories and this is yet another.I really enjoyed it.
Loved this book, as with all of Shreve's writing.
Love it!
Engrossing and typically Anna Shreve. If you liked The Pilot's Wife, you'll like this one.
I know I read this...but, honestly, I can't remember it!
Thia is a great story.
hard to put down!
I really enjoyed this book. It could have taken so many turns. I liked the ending.
I could not put this book down. Great read!!!
wonderful story with happy ending.
From first page to last this was an absolutely wonderful story told from a childs point of view. Hated to turn final page. A very good read.
Her secret is that she simply has the Gift- the abiity to hook you form the first page,draw you in and pull you along- The Washington Post Book World
This was my first book I read of Anita Shreve's. It was a very good book to read, but it was a little empty at the end.
Wonderful story.
back cover - What makes a family? That's what twelve-year-old Nicky Dillon wonders after she and her widowed father discover a wailing abandoned baby in the snow-filled woods near their New Hampshire home. Through the days that follow, the Dillons and the unexpected visitor who soon turns up at their door - a young woman evidently haunted by her own terrible choices - face a thicket of decision, each seeming to carry equal possibilities of heartbreak or redemption.
Great story.
I like how this author writes
enjoyed the engrossing novel by Anita Shreve.
WHAT MAKES A FAMILY? THAT'S WHAT 12 YEAR OLD NICKY WONDERS AFTER SHE AND HER WIDOWED FATHER FIND A WAILING NEWBORN IN THE SNOW. NEAR THEIR HOME. THROUGH THE DAYS THAT FOLLOW, AND AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR WHO SOON TURNS UP ATH THEIR DOOR-A YOUNG WOMAN EVIDENTLY HAUNTED BY HER OWN TERRIBLE CHOICES-FACE A THICKET OF DECISIONS, EACH SEEMING TO CARRY EQUAL POSSIBILITIES OF HEARTBREAK OR REDEMPTION.
I love all of Anita Shreeve's books!
