If You Could See Me Now by Cecelia Ahern

If you have ever read one of Ms. Ahern's novels, you know what to expect from her writing. She is talented with prose, writing stressful scenes frantically and slowing down and enjoying the sweeter moments. If You Could See Me Now is no different. Elizabeth Egan's dysfunctional life story begins with a frantic call to the police to report that her sister has stolen her car. Elizabeth is raising her sister's child, Luke, who's father is unknown and mother is a flighty alcoholic. Her nephew's nanny is away on holiday and he has just discovered an imaginary friend. With Elizabeth's sanity hanging by a thread, Ivan enters her life and turns everything she thought she knew on its head.

The creativity and character development in this story moves the reader. Ivan is sweet, naive and funny juxtaposing Elizabeth's sadly strict and complex world. Throughout the book, while Elizabeth is discovering love and joy, Ivan is discovering pain and despair. Not surprisingly for Ms. Ahern, the ending is bittersweet and I cried. As an author, she seems to feel that giving a perfect happy ending is tantamount to betrayal of her art. Thus, when reading, make sure to keep a few tissues near at hand.

The story moves quickly through the beginning, but does begin to drag toward the middle. While the story is not long, it does feel fairly complex in the middle and I found myself wishing I could find a synopsis online and skip reading the end. I knew it wasn't going to end well for our two little lovebirds. But it does bring up the issues of loving someone enough to let them go, opening your mind to new ideas, and accepting yourself and your issues as you are without punishing yourself for your faults and failures.

If I could do it again, I would probably read a different book, but this was a good break for me from my typical fairy tales and happily ever afters. Sometimes it is important to remember that everything is a story, even if it doesn't turn out exactly the way you wish it would. Sometimes, the greatest blessings are the ones we don't think of as blessings at all.

The Measure of a Lady by Deeanne Gist

I have waited nearly 24 hours from finishing this book to write the review. The reason is, I have some seriously mixed feelings about the story. I will start with the positives and they will lead into the unsettling negatives and perhaps you will decide it is a must read or perhaps you will decide to cross it off you list.

The Measure of a Lady is set in San Francisco during the middle of the Gold Rush. San Fran is a tent city inhabited my men, fallen women, and "sun-bonnets" (the women who maintain their virtue and socially acceptable mannerisms). Rachel Van Buren, her younger sister Lissa, and her younger brother Michael have been orphaned on their journey to San Fran and find upon their arrival that there is no method of returning home. Finding a building labeled "City Hotel", Rachel enters and realizes that she is no longer in Kansas, if I may be allowed to mix metaphors. Prevailing on the kindness of Johnnie Parker, former good Christian turned saloon owner, Rachel finds a lean to and becomes employed as a maid in the hotel. Her sister has a wild streak that gets her in major trouble, while Rachel holds so tightly to the reins it literally makes the reader cringe. The penultimate point of this book is very similar to the quote by Ghandi that I always keep in my mind, "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ." In other words, Ms. Gist, with uncanny skill, depth of emotion, and smooth, moving prose, captures the ultimate Christian folly: to judge so harshly and to separate yourself so much from the world that you forget that Christ daily interacted with sinners, adulterers, prostitutes etc. Rachel is so busy genuinely trying to separate herself from evil, she prevents her influence, love, compassion, and genuine conversion from spreading throughout the settlement.

The plot, the writing, and the two main characters could not have been more real to me. I literally could not put this book down and plan on picking it up and rereading it shortly. Very few works of fiction have touched me the way that I am currently being touched by The Measure of a Lady. I empathize with Rachel and her struggles to hold her family together on the "straight and narrow path". I know that this is a flaw of mine. I judge harshly and usually avoid those whose issues I deem irrepairable. I share her anxiety for a younger sister who may not be making virtuous choices and a younger brother who is pursuing money while deeming me "judgmental". I cannot imagine having to take the reins of my family only to watch my younger sister willfully behave as Lissa behaves. I hope to never have many of the conversations that Rachel & Lissa & Michael have throughout the book with my siblings. I hope things never get that bad for any of us.

Rachel & Johnnie are beautiful characters. They are written in such a way that I feel they are real and I can relate and empathize with them, their struggle to balance the world we live in with the world we want to live in. I hate Lissa, Michael, Mr Sumner, and many many of the supporting characters with a passion. They are written such that I believe you are supposed to feel for their plight, but I cannot empathize or sympathize with them on any level. I found myself angry that Lissa had nicer things than Rachel, and hoping that in the end she would get her due. Apparently that isn't going to happen in this book. Michael bothered me as well. I not only cannot relate to him, I feel he is a patsy for Lissa and a pawn for pretty much anyone else. Both siblings seem to me lured away from hard, honest work toward easy, dirty money. This book basically takes a family and tears it apart at the seams. That part makes me sick to my stomach.


Some of the scenes are haunting and some are upsetting. I am still angry at Lissa for coming in to Rachel's retaurant and breaking her fragile truce with life for no other reason than to be viscious. I love the scenes where Johnnie demonstrates his good judgment and Rachel bends her rules to protect her family. I am haunted by the thought of being so blind to the world around me that no one feels they can talk with me openly for fear of judgment. This book is as relevant as a history book could be to modern times. I hate it for revealing the weaknesses in a Christian society so openly and honestly. I love it for pointing out the strengths in a Christian society so that we can improve ourselves and make ourselves more available to serve and help those near us who we have the ability to aid. I have already ordered this book from Amazon and I highly recommend it to anyone who is brave enough to look at the good, the bad and the ugly in a modern Christian lifestyle.

The Visions of Ransom Lake by Marcia McClure

Ok, I admit that this is (CLEAN!) guilty pleasure time. This is a straight up romance novel set in the Rocky Mountains in the late 1800s. The author takes a bit of liberty with propriety, but the worst (or best depending on your opinion) scene in this book is a vaguely described make-out scene.

This book starts out a little rocky, with a description of our main character, Vaden, that makes her seem like she might be around 12 years old. In fact, the description of her at first made me very uncomfortable as she initially met our grizzled hero, Mr. Ransom Lake.

There isn't really a lot to describe. Vaden, the beautiful, spirited optimist, immediately takes to Ransom Lake, the town hermit. Ransom demonstrates himself to be strong, protective, aware, kind, courteous, attractive, and off-again, on-again shy. Ransom doesn't want to like Vaden. Vaden knows she is in love but doesn't believe its possible. The two have constant run-ins with each other and find there is definitely an attraction. Vaden dates someone else to take her mind off of Ransom and the guy is a slimeball. It is pretty typical of any romance novel, but is pleasant and enjoyable. It is a fairly quick read and definitely leaves you in a happy go-kiss-your-spouse mood and I would recommend it to fans of clean, non-Christian romance novels.

North & South by Elizabeth Gaskell

It is very easy to compare the work of Elizabeth Gaskell to her predecessors Jane Austin and Charlotte Bronte, but to do so would deprive the author of a great deal of skill and her obvious endeavor to be something more than a typical novelist. In North & South, Gaskell uses strong willed, prideful people to compare the distinctions between classes and geographies in England. This book is much more than a romance of two star crossed, willful lovers. It is a very specific social commentary on the state of England near the turn of the 20th century.

The story is set in England during the Industrial Revolution. Mr Hale, a country parson unable to reissue his faith in the Church of England, leaves his small parish in the countryside of the south of England and relocates his wife, daughter, Margaret, and faithful servant Dixon to a manufacturing town in the North to work as a tutor to a tradesman named Mr. John Thornton. Mr Thornton is a stubborn, prideful, hard working, self-made man who immediately is liked by Mr. Hale and disliked by his daughter. However, Margaret Hale makes short work of capturing the heart of Mr. Thornton, despite the fact that she does not return his affection. The fact that Mr. Thornton rises to the occasion and admits he still cares for and thus protects and assists Margaret whenever he can makes him by far the most likable romantic hero I have come across in historical fiction (My apologies to Mr. Darcy fans, but you have to admit, Mr. Darcy is pretty hard to read, despite being head over heels)

Margaret Hale dislikes the noise and smoke of the manufacturing town and spends much of her time romanticizing her old home in the New Forest. Mr Thornton is proud of the industry and capabilities of the Industrial Revolution to raise a man who is economical and modest out of poverty. Thus begins the love-hate romance and the event by which Gaskell is able to compare and contrast the sunny farmland of the South with the dreary industry of the North. Margaret's friendship with several of Mr. Thornton's hands does not aid her opinion of masters of industry, and she repeatedly insults our stubborn hero. Of course, I wouldn't be recommending this book if it didn't have a happily ever after.

Elizabeth Gaskell also skillfully includes many foil characters and archetypes of their stations in life as examples and vehicles to demonstrate her opinions. The lovable Oxford scholar, the servant who looks down her nose at commoners, the hard-working, prideful, impoverished hired hand, the Londoners who possess no concept of the struggles occurring in the separate areas of their country all come together to assist our hero and heroine on their journey to tolerance and understanding. I found it interesting that of all of the characters, there is not one to dislike. There are some that you pity, some that you laugh at, some that you sigh over, but none to find repulsive. Ms. Gaskell did an excellent job of explaining that each character is simply a product of his environment and predisposition. She compares different reactions to poverty and strife through Nicholas Higgins and Boucher and even then, you can only pity the one and respect the other. The villains of this book are simple misunderstanding and stubborn pride.

The plot, while fairly complex, moves swiftly and I found the language fairly easy to read, despite the text's age. The only flaw that I found is the level of description. Gaskell describes many many characters and many many scenes to a depth level that can make them tedious. If you also have this issue, I recommend skimming the scenes and keep moving. Overall, this is a fantastic book. One that I will reread shortly (and that I would like to find a hardcover version if you know of a good one).

***PS: The movie with Richard Armitage *sigh* and Daniella Denby-Ashe is FANTASTIC and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! You should be able to find a copy at your local library, but may I recommend that you purchase a copy for yourself through amazon.com or half.com? I think it is my new favorite movie ever!