Review: Now and Then

Now & Then by Jacqueline Sheehan tells the story of Anna and her nephew, Joseph. Starting in present time, Anna has just returned from a trip to Ireland to find her brother has been in a life threatening accident and her nephew is in police custody for stealing a car. After checking in at the hospital, Anna is sent to retrieve Joseph. Joseph spends the night at his Aunt Anna's house and, propelled by a dream he has, he rifles through Anna's yet to be unpacked suitcase. Anna catches up and something spirals them back in time to Ireland 1884. They are separated, each taken in by different families, and left to try to piece together what happened to them.

Jaqueline Sheehan

While I did enjoy the writing of this novel, for the majority of the time I spent reading it, I felt the presence of the wholes in the story and found myself longing for answers to open ended questions. It's not until the end up of the novel do you find out just what happened to Anna and Joseph that capitulated back in time. It makes sense that that scene is placed where it is, but it also causes confusion throughout because it was difficult to fully accept that the pair somehow magically just time traveled back to the 19^th century. I had a hard time suspending my belief to completely accept the story line.

That said, I did enjoy the characters in this novel. They are interesting and have a depth that brings them off the page. Anna is a strong woman and although her world is turned upside down, she works hard to make sense of what's happening to her. It's touching how worried about her nephew she is and that she makes it her main priority to find him after they've been separated. Joseph is a fascinating character because he comes of age in many ways throughout his (unexplained) time in 1884 Ireland. He's taken under the wing of a wealthy English man who makes Joseph into an unbeatable wrestler. Joseph relishes in his success and also finds love. He's torn between wanting to please his new master and wanting to be with the girl he loves. It's touching to see him deal with these struggles throughout the novel.

Now & Then is an entertaining read, especially if you've read other novels by Jacqueline Sheehan. Her writing style stays consistent but I felt unsatisfied throughout my reading until the very end when every single question is left to be answered.

Review: Someone Like You

Someone Like You by Cathy Kelly tells these story of three women who meet randomly on a trip to Egypt and forge a friendship that proves to be lasting through both happy and trying times. Leonie is a divorced mother who decided to treat herself with a relaxing vacation. She loves her children but is also looking for the love of her life. Emma was dragged along by her overbearing parents- a father who thinks he's the end all be all of everything and a mother who caters to his every need-and she needs an escape. Hannah is an independent American expat who is done with men and focused on bettering herself and her career. Although they seem like an unlikely pairing, these women form a true bond and as their lives carry them on, they are continuously intertwined in each others lives, for better or worse.

Cathy Kelly delivers yet another wonderfully engaging, emotionally captivating novel. What I love most about Kelly's novels is the way she creates such relatable characters. Although it took me a bit to get past the exposition and really dive into the story, once I did I was fully involved in each woman's story. As I continued to read I felt like Leonie, Hannah and Emma were not only friends with each other but friends of mine as well. Kelly's descriptive writing makes it easy to feel like you are personally involved in the character's lives, allowing you to cheer them on or hoping they make the right decisions. These women are exceptionally relatable, to the point that, at times, I felt like I was reading about my own life. I have several pages dog-earred because of quotes I related to so much I wanted to remember where they were.

Cathy Kelly

A big reason for all of this is because Kelly truly has a way with words. She's skilled in knowing just how to describe situations or emotions in order to bring them to life. The stories flow without awkward transitions and each of the three story lines meld together and never feel jumbled. A few times I thought chapters ended abruptly and I had to double check to make sure the next chapter was indeed starting, but I found myself often unable or not wanting to put the book down. I wanted to dive further into the stories and see how things would unfold.

My other favorite aspect of Cathy Kelly novels is how she deals with love. Once again, I found myself entranced by the notion of love between these women and the men that are in or come into their lives. What was new for me, though, with Someone Like You, was that this novel also deals with meeting the wrong men and what that does to a women. While I was cheering on one couple, warmed by their apparent love for each other and could bask with them in the glow of finding each other; I was simultaneously hating another man for hurting one of the women and hoping that soon he would get kicked to the curb.

Someone Like You proves to be a wonderful story of how important girlfriends are, how comforting love can be and also how important finding your independence is.