Mrinal Barla Barla itibaren Hwacheon-gun, Gangwon-do, Güney Kore
I didn't get into the book until around page 200 (but it's normal for me to take a while to get into a book). I did however notice that I didn't have the kind of connection I normally have with the characters and the book (does that make sense?) (let's see if I can remember all I wrote).... When David gives Phoebe to Caroline, I felt bad for Caroline because it should not have been her place to give Phoebe away. I also felt bad for Norah, who didn't even know she was having twins. I think David should not have mentioned Phoebe to Norah at all, since he said he wanted to protect her (not that I condone that). Later in the book, when we found out that David had a sister with Down's Syndrome, it made me question why he wanted to give Phoebe away in the first place; she was described in such high regard. One would think as a doctor he would have this secret desire to help Phoebe like he never could help June. When they go on vacation, and we meet Howard, I got pissed at Norah. I know she had a secret desire to be like her rebellious sister, but to cheat on your husband so openly is not the way to go about filling the void she had (openly by leaving her clothes on the beach and having sex under an open widow). I have never lost a child, but I felt like once she found out Phoebe "had died" she shoud have gone to David for support, not pushed him away. I also didn't grow up during the 60s, so I cant say she should have seeked counseling, since it was described in a sort of negative connotation in the book. Don't get me wrong, I am not blaming her totally for the demise of her marriage, I just feel like she should have connected more with the man she chose to marry. When she decided to get the job at the travel agency, I was happy for her. I think it did help her grow in to the woman she eventually became and made her a stronger, more independant woman. The introduction of Rosemary was sort of odd; I feel like this part could have been deleted from the book all together. I do feel that she was the most stable character throughout the whole book, though. I also found it odd that David would confide in a 16 year old girl and share his secrets of the past, just because she was living in his parents' old house. I guess the author(Kim Edwards) was trying to find away for him to have a sort of meltdown and let it all out. I respect Rosemary in the sense that she listened to everything he had to say and she did not judge him, nor did she tell his secrets. (on a side note, I honestly thought her and Paul were gonna end up together). I wonder if things would have ended differently if David had eventually told Norah about Phoebe instead of finding out from Caroline. I think it would have been too late in their relationship to change anything, but at least he would have that 1000 lb sand bag off his chest. I also feel like Norah would never be able to forgive David. I sort of don't like the way the book ended abruptly, but I was happy to see that Paul was getting to know his sister. That made me happy that he got a sort of a closure from meeting the twin he never knew. Overall, I rate this book as average. I might suggest this book to someone else.