Spring Contrary has sprung… And with a brand new look. Plus five book reviews, one of which is mine on Heather Newton’s debut novel, Under the Mercy Trees:
I once stood at my grandfather’s knee, watching him do tricks with rocks. Later I backpacked by myself in France. I married at twenty, became an attorney in a high-powered Atlanta law firm, then the mother of four. With one friend, I walk and talk; with another, I hike mountains and go to clubs in San Francisco. In Mary Gordon’s novella, The Rest of Life, the old woman Paola searches for the wick running through her life that makes her “the same person who was born, was a child, a girl, a young woman, a woman, and now she is old.”
Bertie, however, one of four point-of-view characters in Heather Newton’s debut novel, Under the Mercy Trees, prefers to focus on the mystery of how different we can be…
Oh, C, this is a beautiful review. The part of aging I love the most is losing all the layers we put on through the years, to return to who we were in the Paradise Lost of our childhood. Which is why I loved your last post so much, the one written in 2nd person. It took me along on your path through life and allowed me to see you.
Lovely comment, Darrelyn. Thank you.
What a wonderful review! It leaves me intrigued about the book, but more-so about the “wick of our lives,” especially yours. Look forward to reading *your* novel someday…
Thank you so much, Robin : )
I have to quit reading your reviews. You’re growing my to-read pile to a dangerous height.
: )
Terrific review of what looks to be a very interesting debut novel. I’ll take a second look at it. I appreciated your analysis.
Thanks, Sarah.