Light
on Snow ,
by Anita Shreve and Alyson Silverman (Narrator)
Nicky Dillon feels that although she is only
twelve, she already has led two separate lives. After the tragic
accident that killed her mother and her baby sister, Clara,
Nicky's grief-stricken father moved her from their beautiful
suburban New York home to a rustic farmhouse six miles outside
a small town in northern New Hampshire. While snowshoeing near
their home, they discover an abandoned newborn baby in a sleeping
bag in the frozen forest. The baby lives, and after the mother
of the baby visits them, Nikki befriends her, helping her to
evade the detective who is trying to find the people responsible
for leaving a baby to die.
I started this book thinking it would be a mystery
and then realized it was a story of a young girl's passing
from puberty into young womanhood. Not only does she have
to face the trials and tribulations of growing up, she has
to deal with the loss of her mother and her baby sister and
the effect their deaths have on her grieving father. I was
impressed with Nicky's ability to face the hardships that
led her to such early maturity. This seven-CD, seven-hour
book would be ideal for a road trip with more than one person
in the car, because it has a different message for each listener.
Anita Shreve is so adept at characterization
and description that the listener feels part of the characters'
lives, the plot and the setting. She has crafted this story
so skillfully that I felt I was there on snowshoes with Nicky
and her father, hearing a baby cry. When she described the
melting snow falling off the pine limbs, I could feel the
cold trickle down the back of my neck and chill my spine.
The reader, Alyson Silverman, does an admirable job with the
voices of her characters, making the listener feel like Nicky
as she faces each day's experiences.
One of the reasons I thoroughly enjoyed this book was for
the awareness it gave me in realizing that life can change
so quickly. It moved me to understand that life can bring
us sadness, but can make us appreciate the chance to change
sadness to happiness.
John
Mormon
5/22/05
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