When Dad told us we were moving, I made him promise we could bring everything of Mum’s as well. Nothing was to be thrown or given away. I’d carefully packed Mum’s clothes and shoes and locked diaries and photographs into especially sturdy boxes. And made a nest in the middle of Mum’s softest jumper for the jewellery box. I do love the small box with its lavender pattern with gold metal around the edges and when it is opened, a darling little ballerina lifts up and slowly spins in a perpetual pirouette as music plays. As long as I wind it up first with the key on the back, the dancer always dances.
One day, maybe, I could be a dancer.
Why wouldn’t a person care about the wellbeing of their neighbour? Mind you, her father never had. He rarely had a nice word to say about anyone unless it was to the face of a guest. But she couldn’t blame one man for her narrow view of the world. She worked with men a lot and some of them were decent blokes. Some of them.
‘See. It is a lake. A magic lake which makes people laugh,’ he says. ‘And when we sit in our magic lake we can whisper secrets to each other. Whimsical whispering water. With fish.’
This is such a lovely story... Even though the way it was written, readers will also experience the sadness that comes from the story. The story begins in the past where a family has just experienced the death of the mother. It saddens them all... But, the father decides to relocate to another town where his soon can attend a special school for detailed medical help. Charlie is looking forward to attending school. His sister, not so much. Mainly she doesn['t want to leave the place where her mother is buried--and she won't be able to visit like she has been doing.
Rebecca--Becky--is a good student, but she has taken on most of the duties needed to keep the home running. There is a constant discussion which sometimes includes her Dad's sister, about her needing to also attend a special school for girls, which her aunt happens to run. Rebecca was opposed to leaving her father and brother... Readers are privy to the day that everything changes. It was the end of an era of family happiness that had just begun as Charlie was growing stronger at his new school...
Readers travel over 60 years ago where we meet an entirely new family. One that has been separated due to trouble that developed fairly early in their marriage. We meet Sadie who has become a journalist who became a specialist in creating documentaries. She has developed a good reputation and has been kept busy in production of one after the other. So much so that she hasn't been home for years.
Her father has died so that Pam, her mother was now the only family connection and had been left after her father's death to run the family Inn. However, when Sadie got there, she immediately noticed that there was a change not only in the condition of the Inn but in the physical health of her mother. Readers can't help but become emotionally involved as these two women struggle to develop a new relationship that was based on their own connection as opposed to having their father being a wedge between them.
It's a sad story that will evolve as Sadie is there to not only see her mother, but to deal with the family will, the future, and what will happen in the future. Sadie finds herself stuck dealing with the past--a time when, when young, she and her father were very close and he was very supportive of her becoming what Sadie wanted to do in the future. But at some point, she remembered two men from a local church had come to speak to her father. And suddenly her father pulled away from the daughter he had spent so much time and support to her when she was younger.
Although Pam had loved her husband, she also had to adapt to the change that came over her husband... But Sadie soon realized that Pam was a stronger women than she had thought and, together, they worked to plan where they both would be in their future. With a little bit of help from her mother, Sadie also met Dan, a local building contractor, with whom she'd been talking about doing work in the Inn itself. Of course, Sadie and Dan were "destined" to be attracted to each other, even though Sadie was a lot harder to convince of being able to trust Dan...
I’m a big believer in the shrine of a trillion stars in the midnight sky.’ Good grief, if you don’t stop saying everything right and looking so darned gorgeous I am going to fall for you. Stop it.
But it wasn't until Sadie had become to explore the area and came across the home of somebody that put her on alert, that she and Dan got to know each other... Sadie had taken a walk and came upon a small cabin, where a black cat came happily to greet her, and quickly heading into the house... Sadie noticed that the door was open and, worried, she step in and immediately noticed a purse opened on a nearby table... Soon, the entire town was alerted. Rebecca a woman in her 70s had previously gone off by herself and had needed help to return home. Pam hooked Sadie up with Dan who was a friend who had helped before and had become friends with Rebecca...
It was Dan and Sadie who found Rebecca and got her home, but it was Sadie who took more of an interest--Many of the documentaries Sadie had made were dealing with homelessness and aging... But that first day, Rebecca had asked Sadie to help her find them and Sadie had said she would try, but, later, Rebecca didn't remember that request... But Sadie did and kept on trying to discover who or what she was looking for...
But there were many times available for picnics, or exploring Dan's home which he'd built himself... And, of course, Sadie was excited to see they had similar tastes in the home environment...
Folks, I chose to close out this review with a surprise which related to how the ending will surprise you in a delightful way... Sadie is working on a documentary of a new facility in this lake area...and it's bound to have lots of exciting music to celebrate... So enjoy!
May music and happiness end each day as you spend time with all those who care for each other and work together to service and support all God's Children! And, I highly recommend you don't miss this book!
GABixlerReviews
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