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.

Lifelines.

Among the many things I love about books and reading is that sometimes you come across something where the author can express in words exactly what you are thinking or feeling in way you couldn't figure out how to do.

I find this happens to me especially at times when I am going through something life changing. Whether is meeting someone or breaking up with someone, making career changes or exploring new adventures I always happen to stumble across a book expressing my exact sentiments that I couldn't find the words for. And when this happens, these stories become life lines- something to hold on through as you figure your way through. It keeps you grounded and serves as a reference point to which you can look back for inspiration, courage or remembrance.

When I find books like this I hold on to them and find that I reread them over again when I am faced with a situation similar to the one that latched my onto the story in the first place.

One of my favorites is a book by Alison Pace called Through Thick and Thin. It tells the story of two sisters, Meredith and Stephanie who lead completely opposite lives. They both bond and separate because of dieting and they try to deal with the issues of their lives while trying to lose weight. At one point Meredith adopts a dog and decides to try a dog yoga, or doga if you will, class. As Meredith struggles through poses her teacher says something so simple, yet so brilliant. "Try easy," he says. What a revelation! And this can be applied to so many things in life. I recall the scene from this book constantly when something is giving me trouble. I'll take a moment and repeat: try easy. I think we have a tendency to make thing far more complicated than they may actually need to be. We get ourselves all worked up into a frenzied, stressed out state of madness until we can't see which way is up. If we take a moment, breathe, and try easy things just might turn around.

Another book I turn to constantly because it's so full of wisdom that I learn something new every time is Eat, Pray, Love. Elizabeth Gilbert offers such insightful views on so many important aspects of life: love, relationships, self discovery, work... to name a few. I tend to turn back to Eat, Pray, Love after things turn sour in my love life. I see a lot of similarities between myself and Gilbert in the way we behave in relationships (as I'm sure many women and maybe even some men do too.) It's nice to turn back to this book and rereard Gilbert's comforting words, like wrapping myself in my coziest blanket and settling in for the period of "getting over it" or "moving on."

Another book I've mentioned here that offers some great advice is Cathy Kelly's Past Secrets. In it Maggie suffers a devastating breakup after discovering her boyfriend's been cheating. Her friend suggests getting back at him, making him suffer and other sorts of revenge. Instead of giving in Maggie says, "I'm trying to put myself in the happy Zen state where the only true revenge is living my own life well." And it's true. You can't look anything but fabulous and confident when you are living your best life to its fullest potential. Instead of worrying about him (or her if the case may be) you focus on you. You make you better and you sink your teeth into carpe diem.

Most recently I've been reading Now and Then by Jacqueline Sheehan. It's been an interesting read so far. I've been enjoying it but I'm only half way through so I don't have an official opinion yet. Anyway, While I reading before bed last night I came across a great droplet of wisdom. The main character Anna is thinking about her situation (which is that she and her nephew have time traveled back to Ireland 1844 and don't know how to get back) and she realizes: she could endure the most excruciating circumstances as long as she knew there was an end. Similarly Anna thinks that "surely she can do anything for a few days." We as people don't do well with any sort of uncomfort. Pain. Confusion. Anxiety. Helplessness.  But we forget it's only temporary. Those feelings don't last forever. I know for me, when I'm in the middle of something, I feel like it's never going to be any other way. When I'm in it, I can't see that proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. But as cliche as it is, it's there. The feelings fade back, time makes it better and it ends.