THE BOOK FAIR

Review:

A horrific accident binds two women, both mothers, who will forever endure an all together preventable tragedy.

 

Hamilton picked a tragic incident that could happen to anyone for the base story and expanded the depth of the novel with a secondary plot using emotions of anger, resentment and revenge.  The author delves into the different personalities of the parents struck by the tragedy, and their reactions to the devastating loss.

 

The Goodwin’s, new arrivals in a small community in Wisconsin, purchase a dairy farm.  Alice, a nurse, works at the local school.  Alice and Teresa befriend one another, and share time watching each other’s children.  Teresa, a therapist, drops her children off on Alice’s day to babysit the children.

 

Intelligent and sensitive, Ms. Hamilton weaves a lucid and emotional tale of a woman besotted with feelings of inadequacies and guilt.   The depth of marital relationships, the intensity of friendships, loss, love, despair, and forgiveness all collide and unite in this tragic human drama.