Author: Deborah Smith
Publish Date: 5/4/98
Meeting Host: Janis
Meeting Date: 6/27/09
Booklist Editorial Review:
Claire Maloney is the protagonist in this story of a well-to-do Georgia family that dates back to early Irish roots. Claire's childhood friend was Roan Sullivan, white trash from a poverty-stricken neighborhood. When Claire was 10 and Roan 15, the boy killed his father when the elder Sullivan attacked Claire. Roan is sent away; 20 years later, he comes back into her life. Smith, author of five other novels, is an exceptional storyteller. She begins this entertaining novel with, "It started the year I performed as a tap-dancing leprechaun at the St. Patrick's Day carnival and Roanie Sullivan threatened to cut my cousin Carlton's throat with a rusty pocket-knife." If ever a novelist hooked a reader with the opening sentence, this is it. Expect demand by patrons who relish popular fiction that is at once exciting and heartwarming. -George Cohen
Publish Date: 5/4/98
Meeting Host: Janis
Meeting Date: 6/27/09
Booklist Editorial Review:
Claire Maloney is the protagonist in this story of a well-to-do Georgia family that dates back to early Irish roots. Claire's childhood friend was Roan Sullivan, white trash from a poverty-stricken neighborhood. When Claire was 10 and Roan 15, the boy killed his father when the elder Sullivan attacked Claire. Roan is sent away; 20 years later, he comes back into her life. Smith, author of five other novels, is an exceptional storyteller. She begins this entertaining novel with, "It started the year I performed as a tap-dancing leprechaun at the St. Patrick's Day carnival and Roanie Sullivan threatened to cut my cousin Carlton's throat with a rusty pocket-knife." If ever a novelist hooked a reader with the opening sentence, this is it. Expect demand by patrons who relish popular fiction that is at once exciting and heartwarming. -George Cohen
