After her grown daughters return to the family farm during the pandemic, Lara recalls her previous life before becoming a wife and mother. Much of her formative years are intertwined with Thorton Wilder’s play, Our Town. Lara is once cast as the lead in summer stock in a Michigan town. The other lead, Duke is her boyfriend at the time and later becomes a famous movie star. Her daughters are swept up in the storytelling. It prompts them to consider their own lives, relationships and everything they thought they knew about their parents. This novel is a sweet and nostalgic look back at youth and those we call family, how destiny and choices collide. Ann Patchett, one of my favorite writers, continues to spin the most beautiful stories.

Great read! So many unexpected twists. It was 500 pages and I couldn’t put it down and finished in 3.5 hours!

A beautiful emotional love story from WW 2 & the present. It weaves together two women’s story of perseverance.

This non-fiction book tells the story of Elizabeth Packard. She is a woman I have never heard of but should have. Sane women are institutionalized by their husbands on whims including Elizabeth. She fought to get back rights for her and others caught in this situation . The story is at times tedious but I am glad I learned about this formidable woman.

amazing

This is a very interesting book about the woman called "the mother of modern forensics".

I did not like this book. It was not the light summer read I was hoping for.

This is the story of a couple, Abe and Jane, over the course of fifty years together. It‘s told through their time spent in New York’s Central Park. She’s a visual artist, he’s a writer. Now as Jane is dying, Abe recalls their life together as a way to keep going. How their love and careers took shape through marriage, parenthood, and life. Throughout it all, Central Park bears witness to their relationship, even providing its own point of view. Jessica Soffer writes beautifully about all the nuances of a long love story.

The was a fun story about a boy’s youth as told by his point of view. It is set in 1964, which for me is a time I can relate to. Unlike many stories about children growing up that focus on hardships, this one is set in a middle-class family and focuses more on fun and experiences than challenges. It’s a good read. My only problem is that based on the way the title was written, I was expecting something less polished.

excellent read