Rainy Day and Last Few Pages

It has been a busy week getting back into my routine at home and at school.

My Friday afternoon didn't work out quite as I had planned, but all is well that ends well...

or so the saying goes.

Once I returned home I began hearing drops falling on the skylights in the sunroom.   Although I am still a bit skittish when I hear the drip drip drip of water, this was the sound of rain and it was warmly welcomed. 

I took care of a few chores around the house then settled in to finish  the last 50 pages of The Lost Wife.

I began it shortly before leaving for Ireland, and honestly, I stayed too busy to spend too much time with it.   The late afternoon rain gave me an excuse to sit down and finish.

The Lost Wife is not a pretty story.   It is not a happy story.  It is a multi-layered story of first love and the role love and memories of love have in one's ultimate survival under the most horrendous events.  It is also a story of strength of family and loyalty.  We begin in Prague shortly before the Nazi occupation and end decades later in New York celebrating an upcoming wedding.

In the Author's Notes, Alyson Richman states she did not set out to write a romance, but a story about an artist who survives the Holocaust, however her story took an unexpected turn.   Many of the characters and events are from actual accounts woven together into one, making this novel even more poignant.

There were times during my reading I didn't know if I wanted or could continue.  Some of the details are too inhumane.  They are stories we do not want to think could really occur, but stories I strongly believe we must never forget lest we allow history to repeat itself.  Thus as hard as it is to read the holocaust story even in fiction, authors should never cease telling it.

I appreciate that Ms. Richman did not succumb to ending the book with a fairytale happy ever after ending, but gave us simply a moment of intimate recollection.

This was the end of my "summer reading frenzy".  My book group met and selected
our books for the year while I was away.  It is an interesting and as always an eclectic selection.

Today has been another rainy day giving me the opportunity
to begin our September book.
I already have an opinion, but I will wait until I am finished
to make my final judgement....
for what it is worth.

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend.

More pictures from Ireland to come.