July 2010 - Book no 20

The third Angel by Alice Hoffman

Spanning the time frame of 3 lifetimes, this book brings together the stories of a whole cast of characters that one meet as the book progress. In each part of the book, in each time frame you start to make the connections between the different characters. The picture and the whole frame of the story becomes more apparent.

The book connects the loves of two present day sisters, getting together to prepare for the one's wedding, with the life of the groom's mom in the swinging sixties, where she discovers while defying her father that her greatest joy is actually being with him. Years before that the two sister's mother witness a heartbreaking event that changes her life forever. The one factor that binds all of the stories is a dingy hotel in London, that almost acts as a character all of its own.

Cleverly written this books addresses the love between parents and their children and the devastating effect the loss of a loved one has on the lives of those left behind.An excellent and clever read.

Cat's opinion: A clever 9/10

(I also enjoyed her book Here on Earth and the film Practical magic, based on one of her books)