REVIEW:Sand In My Eyes by Christine Lemmon

SUMMARY:An older woman growing flowers, a younger woman caught up in the weeds, and the seasons of life.

Twenty years ago, Anna Hott thought she co ...more An older woman growing flowers, a younger woman caught up in the weeds, and the seasons of life.

Twenty years ago, Anna Hott thought she could control everything – her crumbling marriage, her demanding children, her hectic life – by quitting her high-paced job in New York City and moving her family to tranquil Sanibel Island, Florida. But she brought her untamed emotions, her rage toward her cheating husband, and her yearning to write a novel with her. When her husband and children left the house for a week, Anna thought at last she would get her household, her novel, and her mind in order. Instead, her elderly neighbor Fedelina Aurelio knocked on her door bearing flowers and homespun wisdom, and when Fedelina’s recently divorced son arrived, Anna had a test of passions and a test of truth. Now, at 56 with an empty nest, Anna Holt pulls out the incomplete manuscript she started that memorable week and – to find closure for her life and a conclusion for her novel – travels to Indiana to visit Fedelina who lives in a nursing home.

A novel framed within a novel, Sand in My Eyes is both a story about the tension between motherhood and personal dreams as well as a story about women across generations inspiring one another to let beauty persist despite ugly circumstances.

MY REVIEW:As you probably have already guessed that this is the first Adult Women’s fiction that I am reviewing on my blog.I had been reviewing Young Adult’s fiction so far.Sand In My Eyes came to me at a perfect time when I was craving for Adult Women’s fiction.It is a story about the toils and hardships of a woman in her mid-life,struggling with raising her children as well as coping with the infidelity of her husband.But this book does not just simply deal with the complications of marriage and motherhood but rather it shows how a woman realizes her dreams and ambitions despite all this.Sand In My Eyes inspired me.I found Cora’s letter extremely encouraging,soothing and inspiring.All the characters in the book are practical and realistic.The writing by itself is so powerful and yet so smooth that I was hooked to the book from the very first page.The writing could have been choppy,what with a number of layers to the story and also the narration flits between past and present,but it is surprisingly easy and lucid.The friendship between between Anna and Fedelina has been weaved most beautifully.This is simply the kind of book that will make you think and think hard,long after you have finished the book.I am so happy that I actually own this book and it is not a borrowed copy because I am sure I will be going back and reading it again and again.The book has a soothing and calming effect which I absolutely cherish.It is a beautiful book.The ending took me by surprise though.I did not imagine that one coming!I recommend this book to all those who have a liking for Adult Women’s fiction.

MY RATING:5/5