A Wedding in December, by Anita Shreve and Linda Emonds (Narrator)
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As the friends disclose the circumstances of their lives, either through conversation with others or through narrative passages, their stories become the fragments that comprise the history of the group. Set just a few months after 9/11, the 40-somethings discuss their reactions to the World Trade Center catastrophe while one of the friends, Agnes, continues to write pages of her short story about the tragedy of an explosion in Halifax that killed 2,000 ordinary citizens and blinded many others.
As in her earlier books, Anita Shreve has created a cast of characters who speak the words we hear in our heads as we ponder life's obstacles. She develops characters who are likable but flawed, and she makes them so familiar to us that we almost expect to see them sitting across from us at the next family gathering. Linda Emond's narration gives the listener the sensation of hearing a story told by a concerned, sympathetic observer.
Just as she's crafted books based on a house,
as in The Pilot's Wife, Sea Glass, and Fortune's
Rocks, Anita Shreve has written another wonderful book
with characters who deserve to be revisited in a sequel or
prequel. Perhaps the next time roadtrippers check into a bed
and breakfast, they will take a closer look at their fellow
guests and imagine the histories they bring to their stay
and the memories they will take away.
Ruth
Mormon
10/16/05
