(5) = Best; (4) = Better; (3) = Good; (2) = Fair; (1) = OK
These abstracts serve as reminders to myself; they serve to "jog" my memory on what a book was all about. That's all. This is not a literary critique, not a social commentary, and certainly nothing profound to warrant further discussion.
(5) = means that I really enjoyed this book; (1) = means I finished reading it but wonder if my time could have been better spent elsewhere.
“Within hours, Vincent Cardoni - a brilliant surgeon with a history of violence and drug abuse - is arrested for a heinous crime. Facing a seemingly insurmountable wall of evidence, he turns to Portland’s top criminal defense attorney, Frank Jaffe - who, along with his ambitious daughter, Amanda, must put on an inspired defense…” Cardoni’s Ex-spouse is also a surgeon and she has no love or confidence in her Ex-husband’s skills or abilities or honesty. There is nothing on record that says he is anything but an arrogant, hateful, potentially violent and drug using surgeon with several malpractice suits against him. The hospital administrator would love to fire him. Amanda decides to investigate his case. Of course there is a surprise ending. (3).
This is a beautifully written love story that traces Lexie’s relationship with Jeremy over a period of years from the beginning until Lexie dies at childbirth. She gives birth to Claire who Jeremy had great difficulty accepting as the “cause” of Lexie’s death. The father eventually accepts the baby, raises her and one day when Claire was about 5 years old decides to take her to the cemetery.
Here are some exerpts:
“When Claire was not yet five, she could recite his stories about Lexie as if she’d lived them. The last time he took Claire to the cemetery she said (of her mother): “I wish she didn’t die,” she’d said on their way back to he car. That happened a little after Thanksgiving, and he wondered if it had anything to do with her nightmares. They hadn’t started until a month later, but he couldn’t be sure…. Trudging through the moist and chilly night, they finally reached the graves. Claire aimed the flashlight toward them. He could see the names James and Claire; besides them was the name Lexie Marsh and the flowers they’d placed in front of the grave on the day before Christmas.”
“After leading Claire to the spot where he and Lexie had first seen the lights, he sat down and pulled his daughter onto his lap.”
“The lights, as always, were a celestial wonder, rising and falling in spectacular fashion, and Jeremy found himself mesmerized along with his daughter. Tonight the lights seemed to last a few seconds longer than normal, and in the brightness, he could see the expression of awe on his daughter’s face.”
“Is it mama?” she finally asked. Her voice was no louder than the wind in the leaves above them.
“He smiled, his throat tight. In the quiet of the night, it seemed as if they were the only two people in the world. Jeremy took a long breath, remembering Lexie, believing that she was here with them, and knowing that if he could see her now, she would be smiling with joy, content in the knowledge that her daughter and husband were going to be okay.”
“Yes,” he said, holding her tight. “I think she wanted to meet you.”
A real tear jurker. (5)
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