Jeannie S. (wisegenie) - , reviewed on 1/18/2011 + 25 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

I have found a new favorite author! This book has the spareness of the Orient, as Gail seems to be Japanese. At least her characters are at least half Japanese. This book is about a girl (Hana) with Werner's Syndrome, which makes her body age at twice the normal rate. She becomes quite old and frail at the age of 36, and her father Max(full Japanese) has died, so she lives alone with her mother, and they both fall into routines of life. This routine, which has begun to become stale, is livened by the visit of Laura and her two girls, Josephone (13) and Camille (a couple years younger). Laura and Hana had been best friends from small children through college. But they haven't seen each other in about 10 years. Hana has aged dramatically, and doesn't want Laura to come visit. But Laura decides she is going to take her girls to visit anyway. The action of the book takes place over about five days, with detours back to explain the courtship of Cate (Hana's mother) and Max, and their lives together as they remember being a happy family and having a lovely daughter.
The writing is spare, and written consecutively by Cate, Hana and Josephine. Laura and Camille are seen through the eyes of the others. Each chapter is relatively short, and the book is a quick read, but there are more than enough insights and understandings to make you think about it long after you finish reading.

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