The Most Wrenching Read Of The Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                          Chris Cleave's "Little Bee" was the sensation of its day.  When I heard of this new book, and its title, I just had to read it.  It is worth the read, but it is also one of the ,most harrowing stories of World War II I have read.  In lesser hands, this could have been 40's melodrama. With Cleave, it steps up to poetic lyricism.

                                              A group of characters--Mary North, Tom, Alistair Heath, Zachary and his father, Mary's friend, Hilda, come together during wartime in London. Their relationships, both in and out of that city are chronicled as they change and evolve.  There is much tragedy in the book that brings home to Americans particularly how London was devastated by the war. I confess I had to put the book down; I could not take much more.

                                                The novel ends on a satisfying, if bittersweet note. The journey may seem difficult, but it is well worth reading.

                                                  But I suggest you read something fun, afterward.  Even Lauren Weisberger!!!!!!!!!!!!!!