The Drowning Season

Rating:
Summary: Very entertaining and a unique look at life and destiny.
Review: After reading Turtle Moon I had a quest for more of Alice Hoffman. The Drowning Season gives a unique perspective of issues that I had never looked at before - namely death and obsession with a quest. Suicide is not an easy topic, but this is an eye opener. Hoffman has a timemachine built into her novels that transports us into these worlds almost through magic. I have never been disappointed with any of her novels, and eagerly look forward to the next adventure into the human spirit that she takes me on. Her characters are human and fallible - like all of us. The stories are lessons learned that touch our lives over and over again. She is so timely with stories on AIDs, abuse, gangs, new age beliefs, abandoned unwanted juveniles, and even crime. Each is almost a modern day parable. I couldn't put this book down, it traveled with me until I finished it.

Rating:
Summary: Very poignant story of famial love
Review: While browsing thru notes I made on books read years and years ago, I came across my remarks about Angel Landing, another Hoffman book, and remembered how impressed I was with her writing style and characters. I decided to see if she had written any more books and had no idea she had written so many others, including one selected by Oprah's reading group. I was not disappointed to be reading her again. Her characters, always quirky and strange, are written in such a lyrical tone that they seem very real and human. In The Drowining Season, Esther the White is the matriarch of a very dysfunctional yet loving family. Hoffman slowly reveals the past deceptions and future dreams of all the family members culminating in life-changing decisions made by all three generations. Your only hope is that all will have found the peace and love so desired. A great read!