The Vineyard: A Novel

Amazon.com

Like a glass of good pinot noir, Barbara Delinsky's The Vineyard is best enjoyed slowly. The Vineyard follows the triumphs and tragedies of the Seebrings, a wealthy family of vintners in Rhode Island. The story begins when recently widowed, 76-year-old Natalie Seebring announces her scandalous engagement to none other than the vineyard manager, Carl, whose social standing is, needless to say, several notches beneath the Seebrings'. Natalie's children, Susanne and Greg, are furious with their mother for marrying the help, and only six months after their father's death.

Besides her remarriage, Natalie is working on a family history project, one she hopes will explain all the love and loss she has endured before reaching happiness at long last. She recruits Olivia Jones to help with the project, and Olivia and her daughter Tess move out to the vineyard for the summer. Tension builds with the summer heat as the wedding approaches. To make matters worse, Carl's son Simon, the new vineyard manager, is coldly resentful of Olivia and Tess, who remind him of the wife and daughter he has lost. But amidst all this, Natalie Seebring's long-buried past is slowly revealed, and like a summer storm, the truth blows through the vineyard, leaving everything different in its wake.

Barbara Delinsky says she was influenced by Tom Brokaw's The Greatest Generation in writing The Vineyard, and Natalie Seebring is a fine tribute to the strong, silent Americans who made so many sacrifices during World War II. Keep a hankie close by when reading this one. Family tragedy, unlikely romance, and old wrongs finally made right will have you laughing and crying. --Francine McBride

Book Description

In The Vineyard, New York Times bestselling author Barbara Delinsky (Lake News, Coast Road, Three Wishes) has written her most complex and emotionally rewarding novel: a story of two women, a generation apart, each of whose dream becomes bound with the other's.

To her family, Natalie Seebring is a woman who prizes appearances. She is exquisitely mannered, socially adept, a supportive wife, and head of a successful wine-producing enterprise. So when she announces plans to marry a vineyard employee mere months after the death of her husband of fifty-eight years, her son and daughter are stunned. Faced with their disapproval, Natalie decides to write a memoir. There is much that her children don't know about her life -- about her love of the vineyard, her role in fighting to build it up, and the sacrifices she made for her family.

Olivia Jones is a dreamer, living vicariously through the old photographs she restores. She and her daughter, Tess, have no one but themselves, so they cling to the fantasy that a big, happy family is out there somewhere, just waiting to welcome them home. When Olivia is hired by Natalie to help with her memoir, a summer at Natalie's beautiful vineyard by the sea seems the perfect opportunity to live out that fantasy -- an elegant home by the shore, a salary that allows her to hire a tutor for her dyslexic daughter, a job that is creative, hours spent with a woman who has led a charmed life.

But all is not as it seems, Olivia and Tess discover when they arrive at Asquonset, the vineyard in Rhode Island. While welcoming, Natalie is not quite the mothering type, as is quickly evident in the hostility her daughter and son have toward her -- it's a hostility that Olivia must buffer. Another dose of stark reality comes in the form of Simon Burke, who runs the vineyard's day-to-day operation and sees in Olivia and Tess an unwelcome reminder of the wife and daughter he tragically lost. And then there is the cruel reality of Olivia's own life -- the mother who never wanted her, and a career that has floundered.

Natalie's story, intended for her own children, enlightens Olivia as well. The lives of these two women of different generations, parallel in so many ways, become, in The Vineyard, a powerful and moving story as the fantasy of an idealized life, complete with perfect romance, crashes headlong into reality.

Download Description

When Natalie Seebring, seventy-six, announces plans to marry within months of the death of her husband of fifty-eight years, her son and daughter are stunned. In the face of their disapproval, Natalie decides it's time to talk about the past and reveal the secrets she has kept for decades. She hires Olivia Jones, an incorrigible dreamer, to help write her memoir and invites Olivia and her daughter Tess to spend the summer at the family vineyard. As summer deepens and the vineyard's crop ripens, Natalie's story unfolds and startles one family member after another. While Olivia's fantasy of finding a welcoming family for herself and Tess remains as tenuous as the success of the season's crop, Natalie's unraveling life story offers lessons for her, too. Perhaps most important is learning to accept the reality of a good life over the fantasy of one that will always seem better. Ultimately, in a tale that mirrors the vineyard summer, days of hope and fear lead to a sweet harvest for all.

Customer Reviews:

Delinsky does not fail to provide another good read.......2006-05-07

So far, every book I've read by Delinsky (Coast Road, Three Wishes and Lake News) has been one I've had a hard time putting down. And one well worth the read.

There is something about the stories and characters that Delinsky weaves....they instantly pull you in, you care about what will happen to them and you enjoy the journey.

The Vineyard is mainly about family, those that have family and those that don't. It shows that even though you may have family, you may not get along with them, but perhaps it's better to be grateful, since some people don't have any family at all! It's also about courage and strength that people manage to find within themselves to carry them through out the obstacles and tough times in their lives. It's about opening up to other people and finding a good friend. It's about the old saying, "don't judge a book by it's cover"- as each of the characters prove of themselves.

Good read- recommended!

Vintage Violets; Wine At Its Best.......2005-03-10

After enjoying FLIRTING WITH PETE and LAKE NEWS I wasn't planning to read more Barbara Delinsky novels right away, since I believed I had already read the ones with themes related to my pursuits or interests.

Then I read THE VINEYARD excerpt at the end of my LAKE NEWS paperback.

I was captured with the ingenious way each main character was introduced by his/her reaction to a wedding invitation from a couple in their 70's and 80's. Of course I wanted to read more; curiosity was precisely stirred from the contrast of negative and positive reactions to this unusual situation.

I bought and read THE VINEYARD, becoming fully involved and pleasantly satisfied with the story, even though I hadn't known I would be so thoroughly engrossed in a family owned vineyard. Was concerned that I might find the history interjections boring and the writing style of an older generation focus a bit too forced (not many writers can capture the beauty and graceful vitality of age until they've arrived there and developed the graciousness).

But, BD handled all with just the right amount of detail, genuine warmth, and ingeniously natural intrusion techniques. For me this book was a reader kidnap, from the first page on.

I have mountains of positive input on this exquisite novel, but I'm testing the effect of short and sweet, instead of writing my typical epistle on a novel. Since I've already slipped on a banana peel heading smack into too long and savory, I'll ...

Another enjoyable book by Barbara Delinsky.......2004-11-09

THE VINEYARD by Barbara Delinsky
November 8, 2004

I've read a number of books by Barbara Delinsky, most of which I enjoyed a lot. THE VINEYARD is not going to be one of my favorites, but I think I'm going to remember it mainly because I had a hard time liking the main character.

Olivia Jones restores old photographs for a living. She's a single mother, with a daughter (Tess) who has a learning disability. The reader will discover that Olivia is a person that deals with a rough reality by hiding behind daydreams. She in particular finds herself dreaming about the people in the photographs she restores, including a series of them sent to her boss, Otis, by a woman who runs a vineyard.

Natalie Seebring is Otis' client, a woman who is in her twilight years and needs an assistant to help write her life story. Olivia accidentally comes across this request for Otis to recommend someone to fulfill this task, and soon she is dreaming of being that assistant, imagining what each person in those photographs is like. Believe it or not, she soon finds herself working for the matriarch of this family, and she and Tess move to the vineyard to spend the summer there.

The story takes on two main plots. While the story of Natalie's life is being told, the reader will learn about her childhood, how she meets her deceased husband Alexander, as well as how she met her current fiancé, Carl. The second plot involves Olivia, and a man she meets at the vineyard, Simon, who also happens to be Carl's son. Simon and Olivia seem to have something in common, and that is, they are both afraid to venture forth into a relationship with the opposite sex. But both are obviously attracted to each other, and their romance evolves slowly as the story moves on.

Other characters come into play, in particular the grown children of Natalie, Susanne and Greg, and a third child, Brad, who remains a mystery throughout most of the book. His story comes out at the very end, and although I had suspected some of what was to be revealed, I was still somewhat shocked, just as the characters in the book were, too.

While I don't recommend this book as a first time reader to Barbara Delinsky's books, I believe that those who enjoyed her more recent books may enjoy this one. The irritating characters of Olivia and Tess, however, may grate on some nerves, as it did mine. Olivia is a very weak, naive, type of person, and I found it very difficult to feel sorry for a woman that dealt with reality by hiding in daydreams and believing them to be true. Her daughter was a bratty young girl who unfortunately got picked on a lot by her peers, mostly because of her attitude and inability to make friends with others, and not by her disability as mother and daughter are led to believe.

On the other hand, I think an author is doing a good job if a reader can feel intense dislike or like for an invented character. I had no problems with the writing. And I looked forward to reading each chapter as I read about Natalie's life story. Overall, I enjoyed THE VINEYARD and as always, look forward to reading more by Barbara Delinksy.

Trite, trite, trite - HELP!.......2004-01-07

I struggled through this book - my first Delinsky book. I read it because my book club wanted to read it. I almost didn't make it through the entire book and I wonder what the other book club members will have to say. For me, it was like sitting in front of the TV watching a bad daytime soap opera. I found it to be a waste of time and I was happy that the length of the book was the only real challenge for me. I thought Olivia's character - she sleeps with Simon after only a month of staring at one another from across the lawn - was weak and uninteresting, sappy and whiny. To top it off, she and Simon sleep in the same bed with the 10 year old daughter in the next room and this is considered a great romance!! Pullease. I can't think of a single thing other than perhaps the discussion of how the grape vines ripen that was interesting to me. Yuck. I'm on to The Da Vinci Code - THANK GOD!
DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME - READ A GOOD BOOK.

Real and Gritty.......2003-12-22

I really like Barbara Delinsky's style of writing. You feel as if you are an actual part of the story rather than "remote viewing" as is the case in nearly every other romance fiction writer.

Nor is there any sordid, soft porn sex scenes to tittilate voyeuristic lust. She builds her love scenes as a gradual, gentle and deeply insightful awakening. She reveals romance in an elegant, classy and very tasteful manner that engages the reader in the reality of the eventual mating without grossing out the reader with the vulgarity found in Stephanie Laurens or even Nora Roberts show-all-tell-all graphic manner that forces some readers to skip those "steamy" pages. Delinsky's books are like opening a box of treasures and never being disappointed or repelled by the contents.

Delinsky also has a wonderful sense of philosophy about family relationships and the manner in which to build strong ones despite setbacks and condemnation by said family or friends. In this book she examines the greatly flawed assumptions that middle aged children dump on their elderly 76 year old mother when she elects to marry her vineyard manager and childhood lover after the death of her husband and father of the kids.
Also this fascinating story is about the labor intensive work of farming a vineyard and the whole issue of sacrifices made by a very strong woman for her entire life to ensure a long term goal of security which makes this story very empowering to women.

I did not care for the manipulative, self pitying, pathological liar Olivia, a photo restorer, who happens through connection to her retiring boss to find a position in the vinyardist's own household for the summer to help organize memoirs, restore old photos and write the book that will explain to Natalie's adult children why she is marrying Carl and the truth about their biological father. Olivia's learning disabled and dysfunctional child dropped into the mix is just plain annoying, but the author deals with this difficult topic in an informed and proactive way. Then, there is Simon, the sour, recalcitrant, rejecting vineyard co-manager whose lost his mother, wife and child in a freak sailing accident caused by drunken sailors in another watercraft. After 4 years he is still wallowing in anger and self pity. Both Simon and the child Tess make the book grating at times, especially the kid's rebellion against authority and her special education teachers. Then there is Olivia's whining about her long lost alcoholic mother whose rejection has forced her to live in fantasyland her entire life. She even fantasizes that she is a long lost member of Natalie's household. This is all a bit much.

However, I do recommend this book for the elegant prose and style that the author brings. She makes me think of Guy Gavriel Kay's exquisite writing style as she unfolds a story in a rich tapestry of life in a microcosm. I will definitely read more of her stories.

Average customer rating:

WOW!

fine J.W. Jackson and Brady Coyne thriller

Seamless double narrative

Two Intertwined Tales Entertain

It's two, two, two mysteries in one

Second Sight: A Brady Coyne and J.W. Jackson Mystery (Brady Coyne and J. W. Jackson Novels)
Philip R. Craig , and William G. Tapply
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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Craig, Philip | ( C ) | Authors, A-Z | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
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First Light: The First Ever Brady Coyne/J.W. Jackson Mystery

Vineyard Prey: A Martha's Vineyard Mystery (Martha's Vineyard Mysteries (Avon Books))

Dead in Vineyard Sand: A Martha's Vineyard Mystery

Murder at a Vineyard Mansion (Martha's Vineyard Mysteries)

Off Season (Martha's Vineyard Mysteries (Avon Books))

ASIN: 0743260678

Book Description

Philip R. Craig and William G. Tapply -- veteran mystery novelists and longtime fishing buddies -- are back with a second joint novel starring their respective series heroes, J. W. Jackson and Brady Coyne.

And something big -- something very big -- is about to happen on beautiful Martha's Vineyard.

International superstar entertainers, top politicians, a former president, and the social elite will come together at the Celebration for Humanity, a musical extravaganza to be telecast live around the world. Headlining the show is legendary singer Evangeline, who's flying in from her Scotland castle, accompanied by her young daughter, Janie.

Vineyard fisherman and sometime private investigator J. W. Jackson isn't much interested in pop music, but he agrees to take a job as the gorgeous Evangeline's driver and guide. The money is good and the company is intriguing.

J.W.'s Boston lawyer pal, Brady Coyne, also has business on the Vineyard. His old friend Mike Doyle is dying, and Mike wants to reconcile with his daughter Christa, who is rumored to be on the Vineyard, before it's too late. Can Brady find her in time?

J.W. 's assignment gets deadly serious when the Celebration's director, Odgen Warner, is found murdered just days before the show is to open. Warner was known to be gruff and demanding, but his death is a shock to the cast and crew. Was it a random killing, or is there a murderer among them who might strike again? Could Evangeline be the next victim? Or is she a suspect?

The search for young Christa Doyle also turns complicated when Brady discovers that a charismatic religious leader may be holding her on an Island compound against her will. Christa and Evangeline live in very different worlds, yet Brady and J.W. find that they must weave together every thread of evidence if they are to save both women's lives.

Filled with charming Vineyard vignettes of fishing, family life, and spirited cocktail hours on the Jacksons' balcony overlooking the sea, Second Sight is a page-turning novel of suspense from two of the most beloved writers in crime fiction today.

Includes three recipes.

Customer Reviews:

WOW!.......2006-03-19

What a great book! Actually I haven't finished it, but if you're aspiring to Amazon's top 10 reviewers and trying to keep up with Harriet Klausner there's no point in wasting time reading. Besides, I can't speed read and have to say each word in my head a couple of times over and I'm always getting distracted by whatever TV show is on. And, well, I trust Harriet. Anything she says about a book goes double for me. I did look at the cover and read a blub.

Let's see. I was placed at 104,000 before I wrote this...

fine J.W. Jackson and Brady Coyne thriller.......2006-03-19

Mike Doyle is dying so when he asks his old college classmate Boston lawyer Brady Coyne to find and bring home his teenage daughter Christa, the attorney agrees so parent and child can reconcile and say their goodbyes. After a trek to the West Coast where she was last seen, he traces Christa ironically to Martha's Vineyard where his fishing friend former cop J.W. Jackson resides. Jackson welcomes Coyne to stay in his home while over the objection of his loving wife he provides additional personal security and driving for famous reclusive singer Evangeline during the week of the Celebration for Humanity rock concert.

When Evangeline's bodyguard is killed, clues lead to a spiritual retreat, the same place that Coyne believes Christa is at. In between fishing, they team up to find a killer, keep a superstar safe, and search for a missing teen before it is too late.

The second collaboration between Coyne and Jackson (see FIRST LIGHT) is a fabulous tale in which the action accelerates late, but fans of both series will not care. The lead investigators and their support cast seem genuine while the vivid picturesque Martha's Vineyard enhances the plot. SECOND SIGHT is a fun thriller as everyone converges on Evangeline.

Harriet Klausner

Seamless double narrative.......2005-06-07

Friends and co-authors Philip Craig and William Tapply really have figured out the secret to co-writing a mystery story. They alternate chapters, each featuring their leading character, and one chapter leads into the next in a smooth and seamless style. In this second dual effort, J.W. Jackson is asked to be the driver for Evangeline, a Madonna-like celebrity who is appearing at the Celebration for Humanity which is being produced on Martha's Vineyard. Meanwhile, J.W.'s buddy Brady Coyne has been asked by a friend to find her runaway daughter before her father dies from a terminal illness. Evangeline's director and her bodyguard are killed and J.W. and Brady soon find themselves entangled with a religious cult and a psychic. The psychic is killed and the two strands of plots begins to intersect and become entwined. The two authors keep the action moving and create an enjoyable mystery, despite a couple of minor plot hitches along the way.

Two Intertwined Tales Entertain.......2005-04-29

Many authors have tried writing mysteries with one another. There are several approaches you can use: One story featuring both authors' characters; one story alternating narrators; two stories similar only in theme; and two intertwined stories. The last is the most difficult, and few collaborate in the mystery genre to try. Thankfully for mystery fans, Philip R. Craig and William G. Tapply (real life fishing buddies) took on this difficult challenge and produced a gem in Second Sight.

I have been reading Mr. Tapply's work for a couple of decades and had not read Mr. Craig's work before. So I started out with some doubts about how well I could appreciate the two together . . . especially since I had not read their first collaboration, First Light. The book opens with J.W. Jackson as narrator and I soon felt like I knew him as well as I do Brady Coyne, about whom I have been reading for so long. Chapters alternate narrators between J.W. and Brady, and this device works well until near the end when they are often in the same scenes and there's a bit of redundancy.

J.W. is a retired cop whose beautiful wife wants him to settle down. When an FBI agent asks J.W. to escort a famous singer, it looks like an easy way to make a few bucks . . . until the agent tells J.W. to be sure and carry his gun. Many people like to get attention by harassing celebrities, but J.W. soon gets a sense that there's more going on.

At the same time, Brady Coyne is called to the bedside of a dying friend who wants to reconcile with his missing daughter. The friend asks Brady to find her and bring her home. Except for a sense of duty and a good relationship with the young woman, Brady feels at sea doing this. But he soldiers on. Calling old friends of the young woman, Brady gets a lead to Martha's Vineyard where J.W. lives. With an upcoming benefit concert, there's no place to stay and J.W. offers to put Brady up.

Once on the island, there paths diverge as J.W. drives the beautiful Evangeline around in disguise while Brady shows photographs of the missing young woman. Before long, dead bodies are stacking up like cordwood, and both J.W. and Brady fear that it's about to get worse.

Will Brady find the girl before her father dies? Will she go see her father? Can J.W. keep Evangeline and her daughter safe? Those questions are kept open until near the very end when the two stories twist together engagingly.

For those who are interested in ESP and psychics, there's a subplot in the book about a fortune teller that you will enjoy.

Very nice work!

It's two, two, two mysteries in one.......2005-02-13

J.W. Jackson and Brady Coyne usually have their own escapades and their own mysteries to solve. But the men are friends and live only a few hours apart from each other, so it seems inevitable that on occasion their paths will cross. Authors Craig and Tapply have led them to do so in "Second Sight." Brady is helping a family friend find his missing daughter. J. W. has agreed to provide security for a high-profile visitor to Martha's Vineyard. The characters take turns narrating chapters, so readers eavesdrop on both men's prospectives. Both Massachusetts natives seem to find themselves in situations that they think are just a bit beyond their investigative capabilities. Other than that -- and their mutual love of fishing -- the two have unique approaches and personalities. It is their individualities and the dichotomies of their situations that make this combination novel intriguing and worth reading.

J.W. is an ex-cop-turned-fisherman who lives to be on the beach. Brady is a hard-working lawyer up in Boston. J.W. is now an established family man, caring for wife Zee and kids Joshua and Diana. Brady's in a relationship that he's currently questioning. J.W. knows nearly every nook and cranny of Martha's Vineyard and has the contacts to follow up on leads. Brady is more familiar with the Boston metropolitan area and is less certain of the terrain he must cover for this assignment. And while J.W. is defending a famous celebrity who's known by millions by sight, Brady is searching for an average teenage runaway who hasn't left much of a trail. Two-thirds of the way through the book, the men realize that the fates of both of their charges hinge on what will happen at the Celebration of Humanity peace concert, which could be anything BUT peaceful. Once the two plots converge, it's all the reader can do to hang on and hope that the good guys will be able to prevent an unspeakable horror of 9-11 magnitude. The ultimate irony is that the action takes place on Martha's Vineyard, a prime vacation island and second home to some of The Rich and Famous. In "Second Sight," it's a hazardous and tragic place to find oneself.

This book is a wonderful installment for readers of either mystery series. And if you "know" only J.W. Jackson or Brady Coyne, you'll be compelled to read the full series of "the other guy." Thanks to Phil and Bill for collaborating once again! This one's "delish."

Plain Brown Wrapper: An Alex Powell Novel

Average customer rating:

Truely Enjoyable
Boring
I loved this book!
Love this Book!
Great Fun--When's Alex Powell Returning?

Plain Brown Wrapper: An Alex Powell Novel
Karen G. Bates
Manufacturer: Avon Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0380808900
Release Date: 2001-07-03

Book Description

Who killed Ev and why? The three most likely suspects are Ev's competitors -- publishers of the country's other popular black magazines who all had plenty of good reasons to make sure Ev never received his Journalist of the Year award.

With the help of Paul Butler, a fellow journalist and an old friend, Alex tries to untangle the circumstances that led to Ev Carson's death. Their investigative trail will carry them from the West Coast to the East, to D.C., New York, and the social whirl of Martha's Vineyard as the summer season reaches its peak. In the middle of dissed colleagues, dumped girlfriends, disgruntled ex-employees, and the legions of enemies Ev managed to accumulate before he died, Alex Powell realizes that before everything is over Everett Carson might not be the only person who ends up with a toe tag.

Customer Reviews:

Truely Enjoyable.......2006-12-16

I really enjoyed this book and was so happy the first time I read it that it wasn't filled with the typical sex and drugs alot of books now a days are.

Boring.......2006-07-12

This book was slow and boring. The author attempts humor in the main character, but all I got was irritation. I could not finish it, I didnt even get half way through!

I loved this book!.......2005-11-21

I bought this book to begin reading on the way back from a trip. I actually started reading while sitting under a hair dryer. This book is a real page turner and I had to read it. I couldn't wait to finish the book to find out who was the murderer (which I would have never guessed!) and now I'm saddened because I finished the book.

Love this Book!.......2005-09-30

This is such a good book. I read it a couple years ago & just had to buy it. If you want something mysterious, but funny w/plenty of soul, then this here is your book. You'll love the Sista in this book.

Great Fun--When's Alex Powell Returning?.......2005-06-23

Karen Grigsby Bates' Plain Brown Wrapper is great fun to read. As other reviewers noted, the mystery is really a backdrop, but who cares? The characters, while amusing and entertaining, are never silly and are very believable--even the ones that could become cliches or one-noters don't; the dialogue's snappy; and, with the exeception of a few clunky spots, the pace is just right. It's the perfect book to throw in your bag when departing for a short trip or long car ride, or to pick up after reading something more serious and emotionally draining. Upon closing the cover I'm left wondering only one thing: when's Alexa Powell (Bates' intrepid heroine) going to return to a local bookstore near me?

Average customer rating:

An excellent book with a flawed narrator
Good Mystery with intellectual challenges
Race Overused
Obviously written by a lawyer
good start; poor finish; convoluted mystery;

The Emperor of Ocean Park
Stephen L. Carter
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Family Saga | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0375413634
Release Date: 2002-06-04

Amazon.com

A complex, smart mystery filled with intrigue, drama, and more than a little danger awaits in Stephen L. Carter's engaging debut novel, The Emperor of Ocean Park. After the funeral of his powerful father (a federal judge whose nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court became a public scandal), Talcott Garland, an African American law professor at an Ivy League university, is left to unravel the meaning of a cryptic note and carry out "the arrangements" his father left behind. Armed with fortitude and familial devotion--though paranoid of his wife's fidelity--Talcott soon finds himself in an investigation that entangles him with a number of questionable Washington, D.C., denizens, including attorneys and government officials, law professors, the FBI, shady underworld figures, chess masters, and friends and family. All the while Talcott tries not to hurt his attorney wife's chance for a judicial nomination--and their fragile marriage--but the closer he comes to unraveling his father's dark secrets, the more dangerous things become.

Clocking in at over 650 pages, the novel could easily have been streamlined; many of Talcott's thoughts are unnecessarily repeated. But Carter's storytelling skills are adept: tension builds, surprises are genuine, clues are not handed out freely. The prose, while somewhat meandering, can be crisp and insightful, as demonstrated in Carter's description of the misguided paths of young attorneys who sacrifice

all on the altar of career... at last arriving... at their cherished career goals, partnerships, professorships, judgeships, whatever kind of ships they dream of sailing, and then looking around at the angry, empty waters and realizing that they have arrived with nothing, absolutely nothing, and wondering what to do with the rest of their wretched lives.

--Michael Ferch

Book Description

An extraordinary fiction debut: a large, stirring novel of suspense that is, at the same time, a work of brilliantly astute social observation. The Emperor of Ocean Park is set in two privileged worlds: the upper crust African American society of the eastern seaboard—old families who summer on Martha’s Vineyard—and the inner circle of an Ivy League law school. It tells the story of a complex family with a single, seductive link to the shadowlands of crime.

The Emperor of the title, Judge Oliver Garland, has just died, suddenly. A brilliant legal mind, conservative and famously controversial, Judge Garland made more enemies than friends. Many years before, he’d earned a judge’s highest prize: a Supreme Court nomination. But in a scene of bitter humiliation, televised across the country, his nomination collapsed in scandal. The humbling defeat became a private agony, one from which he never recovered.

But now the Judge’s death raises even more questions—and it seems to be leading to a second, even more terrible scandal. Could Oliver Garland have been murdered? He has left a strange message for his son Talcott, a professor of law at a great university, entrusting him with “the arrangements”—a mysterious puzzle that only Tal can unlock, and only by unearthing the ambiguities of his father’s past. When another man is found dead, and then another, Talcott—wry, straight-arrow, almost too self-aware to be a man of action—must risk his career, his marriage, and even his life, following the clues his father left him.

Intricate, superbly written, often scathingly funny, The Emperor of Ocean Park is a triumphant work of fiction, packed with character and incident—a brilliantly crafted tapestry of ambition, family secrets, murder, integrity tested, and justice gone terribly wrong.

Download Description

The Emperor of the title, Judge Oliver Garland, has just died, suddenly. A brilliant legal mind, conservative and famously controversial, Judge Garland made more enemies than friends. Many years before, he'd earned a judge's highest prize: a Supreme Court nomination. But in a scene of bitter humiliation, televised across the country, his nomination collapsed in scandal. The humbling defeat became a private agony, one from which he never recovered.

But now the Judge's death raises even more questions -- and it seems to be leading to a second, even more terrible scandal. Could Oliver Garland have been murdered? He has left a strange message for his son Talcott, a professor of law at a great university, entrusting him with "the arrangements" -- a mysterious puzzle that only Tal can unlock, and only by unearthing the ambiguities of his father's past. When another man is found dead, and then another, Talcott -- wry, straight-arrow, almost too self-aware to be a man of action -- must risk his career, his marriage, and even his life, following the clues his father left him.

Intricate, superbly written, often scathingly funny, The Emperor of Ocean Park is a triumphant work of fiction, packed with character and incident -- a brilliantly crafted tapestry of ambition, family secrets, murder, integrity tested, and justice gone terribly wrong.

"Among the most remarkable fiction debuts in recent years... [The Emperor of Ocean Park] is full of musing about God, family, chess, the politics of Supreme Court appointments, loyalty, unhappy marriage, the media, depression, race, and academic infighting... [Carter] is a scholar and a lawyerly commentator who has penned a rip-roaring entertainment."
   BOSTON GLOBE

"The year's hottest summer read and a surefire bestseller... Carter does for members of the contemporary black upper-class what Henry James did for Washington Square society, taking us into their drawing rooms and laying their motives bare... However The Emperor of Ocean Park is categorized, beach reading doesn't get any better than this."
   TIME OUT NEW YORK

"The Emperor of Ocean Park is a delightful, sprawling, gracefully written, imaginative work, with sharply delineated characters who dwell in a fully realized narrative world... Carter deserves comparison with such successful practitioners of the crime novel as Scott Turow."
   THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS

"The Emperor of Ocean Park is an intricately plotted work... a novel that is both thriller and commentary on American racial relations."
   DAN CRYER, NEWSDAY

"[A] complex literary thriller. Carter deftly weaves together several strands, from the relationships of father and sons and husbands and wives to the politics of the Nixon and Reagan eras."
   BOOKPAGE

"The Emperor of Ocean Park is no ordinary fiction debut...Carter has produced a thoroughly original mystery-thriller... that also explores the brave terrains of race, family, power, paranoia, and the law... If I may join the hype, <

Customer Reviews:

An excellent book with a flawed narrator.......2007-10-08

Many other reviews on this page complain about the narration of the book -- the painstaking details, the almost obsessive repeats of certain key facts, and the constant references to characters as being from the "paler nation" or the "dark nation." These reviewers all complain that Professor Carter did not have a good editor.

I'm not convinced.

As in many great first-person narratives, Talcott Garland -- the narrator of this story -- is deeply flawed. Professor Garland is an Ivy League law professor who is fussy about matters of propriety, uneasy in his interactions with colleagues and friends (usually preferring to be alone), and prone to seeing almost every interaction through the prism of race. Despite his many flaws, Talcott seems quite committed to trying to do the right thing.

By the end of the book, the reader knows Talcott very well. And this story seems to be written exactly the way Talcott would tell it.

In my opinion, the mystery aspect of the story is almost secondary. I found the book to be a fascinating examination of upper class black American society and Ivy League academic culture. One scene, in which Talcott describes how various segments of his audience responded to his law school commencement address, was priceless.

Admittedly, it will take you some work, but I do recommend this book highly.

Good Mystery with intellectual challenges.......2007-08-28

I found this book to be an excellent tale as well as challenging in my concepts in areas such as, politics, morals, religion and race. This author gives us a great perspective in areas that I would not ordinarily have considered as well as a good mystery. Good Book!!

Race Overused.......2007-08-04

I am just on page 60. Being a voracious reader I will complete the book. His constant bringing up of the subjects race and ethnicity is to me somewhat alarming. It seems to appear on every page at least once it not several times. I hope the entire book is not this way.

Obviously written by a lawyer.......2007-08-04

I am currently halfway through this book, and am trying to decide whether to finish it or not. After reading other reviews, I realize I'm not alone. The most I have been able to read at one time is about twenty pages. It is unfortunate, because there is a fascinating story buried among the melancholy dreck that is the main character's narrative. This reads as an attorney's "brief", and is eight hundred plus pages of a story that could have been better done in five hundred. None of the characters is really likeable, and I find the whole academic scene as stuffy as is probably is. The "paler nation" and "darker nation" division gets really old after the umpteenth mention, and the repetition of every little detail makes reading this novel similar to panning for gold. You have to sift through a lot of mud to get to the nuggets. This is definitely one to read as a Reader's Digest condensed version. (note to author - get a different editor)
For now I will put this down and pick it up later. I have to read something that moves a little faster.

good start; poor finish; convoluted mystery; .......2007-07-30

first 400 pages or so were great; very well written, and numerous digressions were brilliant and as exciting as the story itself. But something happened between the pages 400 and 500: the author started to run out of steam, but apparently could not help it keeping writing becoming verbose and repetitive. The main character was turning from deliciously cynical law professor to depressed boring character obsessed with righteousness (Rev. Dr. Young side stories are among the most tedious and boring), and with his ^%# of a wife - another annoying character (it is totally unclear why poor Misha was so in love with her). The mystery itself is becoming more and more convoluted and improbable, with an anticlimactic end, which solves, however improbably, only part of the mystery (where this Maxine is coming from? Her behavior - I don't want to mention the details to avoid spoilers - is improbable to the degree of being schizophrenic). Also, the author committed a cardinal sin of mystery: while writing from first person singular, he still hid from the readers some critical thoughts of Dr. Garland, who in the end was not much surprised, because he figured things out a while back. We were not informed of these deductions.
Much is made of the racial situation, where people are repeatedly marked as being members of "paler" or "darker" nations, presumably whites and blacks. I have never heard these terms before, but the dichotomy does not hold in the real world: how would Carter/Garland call Hispanics and Asian-Americans, in these terms? I don't even want to speculate.....

Overall, at 800+ pages, is probably a waste of time; added a star for the excellent unusual beginning.

Average customer rating:

Delightfully Silly !!
Lots of Laughs and a Breeze to Read
With you in Spirit
Recommended By A Friend
Anything but vanilla

With You in Spirit: A Novel
Steven Cooper
Manufacturer: Alyson Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1555837832

Book Description

"My father's body was found floating facedown in the waters off Chappaquiddick. Naturally, everyone assumed a Kennedy did it." Well, perhaps not everyone, as Graydove Hoffenstein, the Native American Jewish heir to a parking meter empire discovers after his mother, Celeste Garrison Hoffenstein, is arrested and sentenced to life in prison for the murder of her husband, Colin Lightfoot Hoffenstein. But Gray believes in his mother's innocence, as does his sister Chaka, who arranges a seance at the family's Martha's Vineyard home with the renowned -psychic Brenda Cloudholder, who arrives in a Yugo driven by her spookily mysterious chauffeur, Derderva. So begins Steven Cooper's rollicking tale of love, murder and ghosts, where skepticism meets spiritualism, ghosts communicate using lemons and Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive," and family eccentricities hold the key to just about everything. As Gray tries to juggle both a police investigation and Brenda Cloudholder's increasingly weird communications with the afterlife, he has problems beyond getting his mother out of jail. His best friend, Stevie, has begun dating Gray's younger sister Skye; his Puerto Rican boyfriend, Pedro, has decided to become a woman named Carmen Cuernevaca; and his sister Chaka has decided to become black. With You in Spirit charms and delights as it races toward a resolution, which is not just rewarding but deeply moving as well. Steven Cooper's debut novel is an uproarious blend of mystery and camp humor that will have you begging for a sequel.

Steven Cooper is an Emmy award-winning television journalist who currently serves as the anchor for the "Problem Solver" and "On Your Side" daily segments for WKMG-TV in Orlando, Florida. A native of Boston, he has been an on-air personality for WGGB-TV in Springfield, Massachusetts, and KNXV-TV in Phoenix. He now lives in Orlando.

Customer Reviews:

Delightfully Silly !!.......2007-09-05

What a fun book!.....There is no pretense here; it is silly murder mystery that taps into all of the gay stereotypes, privileged stereotypes, and whoo-dunit stereotypes. Quick paced, charmingly silly, bitingly witty, and cleverly plotted, this novel will entertain and delight. The mix of characters, dialogue, and situations sometimes remind of George Burns and Gracie Allen, at others, Lucy and Ricky, but will always prove rewarding for the reader.

Lots of Laughs and a Breeze to Read.......2005-02-11

A great read and a real page turner. Steven Cooper's off beat sense of humor makes the book! It is witty and intelligent, even in its occasional silliness. The characters come alive in their relationships to one another. And its a mystery! I'm looking forward to seeing more from this author.

With you in Spirit.......2005-02-09

I didn't think I would like this book when I first started reading it, but when I got into the book I found it very witty and full of surprises. It made me really want to know who done it. It was a quick and easy read, and kept you interested until the end.

Recommended By A Friend.......2005-02-03

Okay, first I want to thank my friend for recommending this book. I wish I had found it sooner. It's one of those books you breeze through with delight. Sure, it's wacky and a little over the top, but it has heart and feeling and it resonates in so many ways. I can't wait to read Cooper's next book. It's already out. I hope it's a treasure like With You In Spirit.

Anything but vanilla.......2005-02-03

First of all... I loved, loved, loved this novel! Steven Cooper has an unbelievable knack of creating rich characters, eclectic storylines, unbelievable humor, wonderful wit and superb satire, and delivers something that is severly lacking in the publishing world today... and that's ...an unbelievable hunger to finish the novel... while resisting the temptation to finish it so soon! Anyone who has anything negative to say about this novel is just a frustrated, jealous writer wannabee who's ticked off at the world because he can't get past the first page. I would highly, highly, highly recommend this novel because steven cooper is anything but "vanilla" ... and if you have half a brain in your head, you should be praising him profusely and checking the bookstores with bated breath for his next novel! hurray steven cooper!

Average customer rating:

A Glass of the House White, Please
A Glass of the House White, Please

VINEYARD: A Novel
Joy Sterling
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Spirits | Drinks & Beverages | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 068483930X

Amazon.com

It's clear from the layout of Vineyard: A Year in the Life of California's Wine Country that the narrative is kept purposefully secondary to Andy Katz's lavish photography. Interspersed between predominant spreads of pastoral lanes, "golden-hour" vistas, and fog-drowned hillsides, Joy Sterling's viticultural story winds its crooked way. Since Sterling serves on the business end of Sonoma county's Iron Horse winery (while also, notably, being married to resident winemaker Forrest Tancer), her take on the vintner's cycle is brief, broad, and anecdotal. Yet the sheer prominence and prevalence of Katz's work properly achieves the romanticism Sterling means to convey. Vineyard serves best on the coffee table rather than in the wine library--we are reminded primarily that a year in the life of California's wine country is, at the very least, gorgeous. --Todd Gehman

Book Description

It may be something about the number of grapes that get crushed, the days on the vine, the sun, or the rain, but there is a certain alchemy that takes place in the production of a bottle of wine, an alchemy that is noticeable in just one sip from any very good bottle. In Vineyard, Andy Katz and Joy Sterling have captured this alchemy with their own talents in photographs and words.

Beginning with a history of wine in California, where the most popular American wines are grown, Joy Sterling describes the precarious nature of life in the vineyard -- concerns about daily variations in weather, maintaining hope through difficult seasons, and the irony in the difficulty of handling a harvest that is larger than expected. Sterling's expressive epigrams of seasons, philosophies, and perspectives of growing wine in California are accompanied by Andy Katz's crystalline photographs of vineyards in sunlight and rain, shadow and fog, abundance and rest. His photos capture the density in the light, the texture in the leaves, and the moisture in the air.

Anyone who has ever visited California will be charmed by this stunning year-round representation of the vineyards, and those who haven't will be captivated by the sheer beauty and poetry in its vistas.

Customer Reviews:

A Glass of the House White, Please.......2000-05-25

I admit at the outset that I am not a wine-lover. I drink a glass of wine every evening because it is said to be healthful, and I don't sip wine while chewing gum, but, okay, usually I cannot distinguish one wine from another without reading the label. So I could probably write a more informed review of a book about toilet tissue. Still, I don't believe this book is altogether wasted on ignorant readers like me. Ms. Sterling's prose opens an appealing and beautiful window into the California Wine Country, as seen by someone who lives and works on a vineyard there. The reader comes to appreciate, and sympathize with, the labor-intensive nature of wine-making, and the countless and challenging factors of climate, weather, soil, parasites, barrels, farming decisions, and nearly endless intangibles that determine the volume and the quality of the yearly vintage. Even more important and more visible in this book is the love that accompanies the labor: love of the land and its seasons, love of the process, and especially love of the final product, with all its subtleties and nuances.

The text does provide information, but this is by no means a text in oenology. Instead it is a rhapsody on making of fine wines in the singular and fortunate environment of California. The accompanying photographs, which constitute more than half of the book, not only harmonize with the prose but also stand alone as superb examples of photographic art. The photographer (and co-author) is a master of light, skilled at achieving dramatic, evocative, and downright beautiful results even in conditions that are photographically marginal.

Quibbles: there were a few terms that my dictionary did not define; perhaps a short glossary would have been useful. And I wish the figure captions had been placed adjacent to the individual photographs rather than on a list at the back of the book.

A Glass of the House White, Please.......2000-05-15

In summary, this is essentially an art book, a coffee-table book, that can be enjoyed and savored like the wines it describes. It has certainly made me rethink, if not yet revise, my habit of wine-as-medicine.

Average customer rating:

In love with California?

"Falcon Crest" meets "A Walk in the Clouds"

The Vineyard (California Fiction)
Idwal Jones
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0520210905

Book Description

Set in the Napa Valley at the turn of the century, this novel beautifully evokes the characters' love of the land and the rhythms of life lived close to the earth and its seasons. Spirited Alda Pendle is the daughter of a viticulturist who has taught her his craft. When he dies, leaving her without property, her skills make her indispensable to the solitary owner of one of the old vineyards in the valley. The novel provides a vivid history of winemaking in California to the Prohibition era.

Customer Reviews:

In love with California?.......2007-02-24

This is a fine tale of people at the turn of the last century, farming and loving the land that they live on. This book is for readers who want to get away to a time before automobiles, television, and moving pictures took over our lives. The backdrop of history can lead one to explore other California and Western U.S. topics such as the settling Northern California, the discovery of silver and the Comstock Lode, the lives of Chinese in California, the Swiss-Itallian immigrant, migration from the southern part of California, the history of the grape vine for table grapes and wine production, and how prohibition affected the early wine industry. It also explores the complex relationships of families formed by marriage, adoption, and long-term working relationships.

"Falcon Crest" meets "A Walk in the Clouds".......1999-09-16

I work in a winery. This book describes the area and the industry as they were 100 years ago. This is the part i liked best. But the plot is just a soap opera, complete with damsels in distress, villains, rick bastards, etc. Do not read this book if you are planning your vacation to the Napa Valley :-)

Walking Naboth's Vineyard: New Studies of Swift (Ward-Phillips Lectures in English Language and Literature)

Average customer rating:

Walking Naboth's Vineyard: New Studies of Swift (Ward-Phillips Lectures in English Language and Literature)
Christopher Fox
Manufacturer: University of Notre Dame Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Essays | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Average customer rating:

believable, interesting characters and plot

Carson Valley: A novel
Bill Barich
Manufacturer: Pantheon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

jp-unknown1 | Specialty Stores | Books
ASIN: 0679442103
Release Date: 1997-03-11

Amazon.com

Carson Valley, the place, lies in Sonoma County, 80 miles north of San Francisco. It is an agricultural center, a prime spot for growing wine grapes, though its character has been changing as the nearby city of Santa Rosa extends its suburbs deeper into the valley. Carson Valley, the novel, is the first such offering by accomplished short-story writer and essayist Bill Barich. It details the changing fortunes of vineyard owner Victor Torelli, his family, and the people who labor in his fields. The novel begins with Victor's daughter, Anna, returning to the valley after a failed marriage to care for her ailing mother. Despite her resolve not to become involved in any further romantic entanglements, Anna is drawn to the vineyard's manager, Arthur, a man with a checkered past, a propensity to drink at the first sign of trouble, and the unlikely capacity to love completely and without reservation.

First and foremost, Carson Valley is a love story--the love between a man and a woman, between father and daughter, between friends, and also love for the land. Barich, who once lived in vineyard country, brings the valley to life and peoples it with fully realized, deeply sympathetic characters who lodge in the reader's memory long after the book is read.

Book Description

A richly drawn novel of love, loss and redemption by the author of Big Dreams. Since 1893, the Torelli clan has owned 100 vineyard acres in Carson Valley, California, but the traditions tying them to the land are now in flux. Returning to her family home, Anna Torelli is filled with an emotional awakening as she embarks upon an affair of the heart. 352 pp. Author readings. 30,000 print.

Customer Reviews:

believable, interesting characters and plot.......1999-07-17

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.It included interesting facts on wine-making with believable,interesting characters and plot. I hope to read more from this author.

Average customer rating:

Powerfully Direct
enjoyable, touching story
Sychronicity in Action!
Praise for EJ
Praise for EJ

Eternal Journey: A Novel (Beeler)
Carol Hutton
Manufacturer: Thomas T. Beeler Publisher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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Friendship | Women's Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1574903543

Book Description

Anna and Beth have been best friends their whole lives. Their bond only grows stronger after Beth is diagnosed with breast cancer. But, tragically, after a struggle with the disease, Beth dies, and Anna is left to go on alone. Devastated over the loss of her closest friend, Anna retreats to Marthas Vineyard for a weekend alone. It is there that she meets a stranger, a man who will help her through her anguish and guide her toward a better understanding of life and death. Through a series of unusual, spiritual events, Anna learns that true friendship is never lost forevereven in death.

Download Description

"Eternal Journey" is a heartfelt story of love and friendship, loss and renewal, for anyone who values the true meaning of eternal friendship.

Anna and Beth have been close friends for virtually all their lives. Together they have weathered the pains of childhood and adolescents and celebrated the joys of success and marriage. But, tragically, Beth is diagnosed with breast cancer and after a brief struggle with the disease dies. Anna is left to go on alone. Distraught over the loss of her friend, Anna retreats to Martha's Vineyard for the weekend in the hopes of having some time alone to grieve. It is there that she meets John Duffy, a stranger who will help her through her anguish and guide her toward a better understanding of life and death. Through a series of uncanny, spiritual events Anna is able to learn that true friendship is never lost forever -- even in death.

Customer Reviews:

Powerfully Direct.......2001-11-09

Carol Hutton's Eternal Journey is fast and powerfully direct. Told as a fictional tale, this book will resonate with anyone who's ever suffered loss, experienced coincidences or synchronicities in their life. There are reasons for all experiences, good and bad, although the difference in resolution and understanding is in the part of the equation known as time. Awareness is the skill which needs to be developed as the reader progresses through the novel. The real value is translating this into one's own life.

enjoyable, touching story.......2001-08-18

I have to agree with Harriet Klausner's use of the word "shmaltzy" in her review, as opposed to the others describing it as deeply meaningful, poignant and heart wrenching. However, I have not been closely affected by breast cancer, as is the main character in this story. Rather, I came upon this novel because of my love for Martha's Vineyard, and to that end it was an enjoyable read, reminsicent of "Way of the Peaceful Warrior" by Dan Millman, without being such an obvious lesson in learning about yourself.

Sychronicity in Action!.......2001-05-09

I recently finished Eternal Journey and was deeply moved by its many deep messages. From the moment this book "jumped off the shelf" for me to buy, I knew this was the perfect book for me to read at this moment. I saw an amazing number of coincidences throughout the book with my own life, to the point where I felt like the book had been written just for me! For instance, my 5-year niece is named Annie(the name of the main character in Eternal Journey) and was just diagnosed with luekemia at the same time I was moving through the heart of the story. I just thought it was bizarre that I'd be reading about death (and rebirth) during a time when I was dealing with my second potential death crisis (luckily Annie is responding to chemo and is now in remission). During this same time, my husband surprized me with an eternity, celtic wedding band, which was a symbol of rebirth and eternal connection woven throughout the book. Thank you for sharing such a beautiful message and experience with me and I'm looking forward to sharing it with many of my spiritual woman friends.

Praise for EJ.......2000-11-11

Once in a while a little book comes along and just steals you away. Read a page or two and the next thing you know, you're gone...you're somewhere else for awhile. Eternal Journey does exactly that. It transports you to a special place where mystical events unfold and love transcends loss. Acceptance triumphs over anguish; grief grows into hope. On your journey through this book, you'll travel with Anna, a successful psychotherapist whose mission is helping others unravel and come to terms with life's mysteries. When Anna loses her closest friend Beth to cancer--the third such loss among her friends in a year--she comes unglued. Disconsolate, and trying to "get a grip" (ironically the name of her own radio talk show), she flees to Martha's Vineyard Island for a long winter week-end of healing solitude. Hoping to work through her grief alone, she discovers she is anything but alone. Inexplicably, she runs into and then keeps crossing paths with a truly remarkable individual. As she struggles to find meaning in her loss, other extraordinary "encounters" take place, until finally she realizes that love and connections never die....That life is maybe only one leg of an ongoing journey. Perhaps death is not the end of the road. Perhaps the dying process is really a gateway to another path in our travels. Like the birth process. What an affirming concept! What you'll love about Eternal Journey is that it bravely takes you where other books do not. Through the medium of storytelling, this lovely and poignant fable speaks straight to your belief systems, offering meanings unfamiliar to most outside the realm of hospice care and grief counseling. Far from being morbid or depressing, the author's message absolutely shines: it's awe inspiring and uplifting. In a word, it's hope (yes, as in "...springs eternal"). Eternal Journey is not just for the bereaved or those anticipating a bereavement. It's for all of us. Consider it a gift for your spirit, a balm for your soul. Carol Hutton has created a wonderful journey for anyone open to life's marvels.

Praise for EJ.......2000-11-11

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