Starting Over
November 12, 2010 by booksuite
Starting Over
Laura Rittenhouse
Wings ePress
Though she doesn’t understand exactly why, Maria isn’t content with her lot. The prospect of exchanging dependence on her family for dependence on a husband doesn’t sit well with this young woman growing up in late 19th Century Germany. Three generations later, on the other side of the Atlantic, Eva struggles with a similar restlessness; she’s generally happy but never quite satisfied.
This book follows Maria and her great-granddaughter Eva as they face surprisingly similar choices in dramatically different decades: how to keep a roof over your head, when to abandon independence and commit to a lover, where to draw a line in the sand. The choices they make take them to new countries, open them up to heartache and leave them wondering what is enough.
I’m going to be honest, this book really hit me. For the first time in a very long time I enjoyed connecting with a character in a book, in this case, two characters. As we switch back and forth in time to experience the lives of the two main characters, the author does an excellent job of creating memorable scenes and events. In the beginning, I found the time- hopping a bit distracting, but as Ms. Rittenhouse pulls us deeper into the story, I cared more about Maria and Eva than the annoyance. As we experience the joys and drama of their lives, these two women take us on quite a ride.
–Book Suite Reviews
