There have been many stories addressing issues of child and drug abuse, trafficking, and threats of violence and displacement. This makes it difficult to find fresh ways of telling that story. Author Charleen Hurtubise has done this beautifully. I was immersed from the very beginning. The characters felt very real and the protagonist, Saoirse, though complex and broken, was able not only to survive but to love deeply despite that origin story.
I haven’t read a romance in many years and if this book is any example, they have deepened in a variety of ways. While the rich, handsome hero is in place and the strong heroine may be swept off her feet,she knows who she is and what she wants. The beauty of found family and the pleasure experienced by the wealthy sparkle with description. But beneath the glamor, the globetrotting and a magical life when money and time are plentiful, this story explores some very serious issues.
There is a lot in this book that I never thought about. Much of it covers familiar ground. It is a story of three characters at a crossroad whose lives converge. It is about forgiveness. It is about the long arm of incarceration. And of course, it is about the power of books. But most of all it examines how single, life changing moments may have the power to override all your life has been and will be.
Reader’s Cafe 