This book is kind of hard to describe. It is a "story within a story". Anna Hott is a woman in her mid-fifties who is reflecting back on her life twenty years prior, of the week she had all to herself, where she began writing her novel. When life intruded upon her again, the novel got tossed in a drawer, never to be seen again. At the opening of this book, Anna is on her way to see her old neighbor, Fedelina, who inspired Anna to write that story so many years ago. Anna is looking for an ending to her story, and to reconnect with the woman who changed her life.
Fedelina is living in a nursing home in Indiana and when the two women reconnect, Anna begins reading her story to Fedelina, looking for approval from the woman on whom this story is based. The reader is taken back in time, twenty years earlier, to when Anna is an overwhelmed mother of three, caring for her three young children, taking care of a household, and stumbling through the after-effects of her husband's affair. She is on the verge of a complete breakdown when her husband heads out of town on a business trip and sends the children to stay with his parents for a week, giving Anna some much needed time and space to confront her emotions and figure out who she is and who she wants to be.
With a quiet house, Anna begins pursuing one of her lifelong dreams - writing a novel. When she meets her elderly neighbor, Fedelina, Anna's outlook on life changes completely. Fedelina gives Anna sage wisdom on life from raising her own seven children, with gardening metaphors that carry throughout the novel.
The story is broken out in sections. "Belvedere" is the present in which Anna and Fedelina are in the nursing home; most of the story is the reading of Anna's manuscript to Fedelina; and there are several sections from the early 1900s with Cora, Fedelina's mother, sharing her life's wisdom with her own daughter (these are also part of Anna's manuscript).
These characters are rich, complex, and deeply formed. You can feel their emotions leaping off the page. I was instantly drawn into their story, taking meaning from their lives and applying it to my own. There is much to think about in reading this novel and it can easily be transferred to your own life. Are you doing what makes you truly happy?
A few things that bothered me: although this book is 355 pages, I felt that the ending wrapped up too quickly and I didn't like it! I kind of felt cheated as a reader. Also, the story seemed to move very slowly at times and I had to force myself to keep reading, because I just wanted to get through it. Finally, there were so many editing errors that it drove me a bit crazy! (i.e. lashlight instead of flashlight; loose instead of lose). I hate finding errors like these in a book because it really detracts from my enjoyment of it. There were also many hyphenated words that I didn't get - i.e. sup-posed. I'm not sure if the completed novel just didn't translate correctly into a printed, bound copy, but this was all through the novel and really bugged me.
Overall, this is a wonderful story and gave me lots to think about. The characters are rich and deep and I'm sure many of you could find a little bit of yourself in Anna.
Fedelina is living in a nursing home in Indiana and when the two women reconnect, Anna begins reading her story to Fedelina, looking for approval from the woman on whom this story is based. The reader is taken back in time, twenty years earlier, to when Anna is an overwhelmed mother of three, caring for her three young children, taking care of a household, and stumbling through the after-effects of her husband's affair. She is on the verge of a complete breakdown when her husband heads out of town on a business trip and sends the children to stay with his parents for a week, giving Anna some much needed time and space to confront her emotions and figure out who she is and who she wants to be.
With a quiet house, Anna begins pursuing one of her lifelong dreams - writing a novel. When she meets her elderly neighbor, Fedelina, Anna's outlook on life changes completely. Fedelina gives Anna sage wisdom on life from raising her own seven children, with gardening metaphors that carry throughout the novel.
The story is broken out in sections. "Belvedere" is the present in which Anna and Fedelina are in the nursing home; most of the story is the reading of Anna's manuscript to Fedelina; and there are several sections from the early 1900s with Cora, Fedelina's mother, sharing her life's wisdom with her own daughter (these are also part of Anna's manuscript).
These characters are rich, complex, and deeply formed. You can feel their emotions leaping off the page. I was instantly drawn into their story, taking meaning from their lives and applying it to my own. There is much to think about in reading this novel and it can easily be transferred to your own life. Are you doing what makes you truly happy?
A few things that bothered me: although this book is 355 pages, I felt that the ending wrapped up too quickly and I didn't like it! I kind of felt cheated as a reader. Also, the story seemed to move very slowly at times and I had to force myself to keep reading, because I just wanted to get through it. Finally, there were so many editing errors that it drove me a bit crazy! (i.e. lashlight instead of flashlight; loose instead of lose). I hate finding errors like these in a book because it really detracts from my enjoyment of it. There were also many hyphenated words that I didn't get - i.e. sup-posed. I'm not sure if the completed novel just didn't translate correctly into a printed, bound copy, but this was all through the novel and really bugged me.
Overall, this is a wonderful story and gave me lots to think about. The characters are rich and deep and I'm sure many of you could find a little bit of yourself in Anna.
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