Kira is orphaned in a cruel society that shuns the weak. (Kira’s legs are lame.) Instead of being left to die in the Field of Leaving, her weaving talents are discovered and she is put to work repairing a robe, which tells of their people’s past through pictures. Kira discovers a secret about the Field of Leaving, and must decide what to do.

This book is set in the future, which surprised me because the setting seems very old. For example, only the rulers have running water. The futuristic setting and the eerie society with dark secrets reminded me a lot of The Giver. However the main character in The Giver choose to deal with the societal difficulties in different ways.

When I was in high school, I read Danielle Steel novels like a fiend. I just couldn’t get enough of them. Maybe Steel’s writing has changed for the worse, or maybe my taste in authors has improved for the better, but I couldn’t even finish this book. It was that bad. This was one of the last Steel novels that I ever attempted and I think I’m probably a better person for it.

A fictional journal of Catherine Cabot Hall. Takes place in the early 1830’s on a farm in New Hampshire. Catherine lives with her father and sister, and must cope with her father’s remarriage, a death and a runaway slave. The language is very archaic, and the story is told entirely in journal format, which was hard to read at first. Once I got used to the style, the book was very good.

A small part of the story which was of special interest to me was when Catherine’s school teacher was told what he could and could not teach during school hours. The teacher wrote a very humble apology to the community for reading newspaper articles about slavery to the students.

Mattie lives in a coffeehouse with her mom and grandpa in Philadelphia in 1793. Yellow fever sweeps through the city, killing many. Mattie and her mom get sick and are separated. Mattie’s grandpa dies of a heart attack, and Mattie must assume responsibility for the coffeehouse and for her mother.

The setting is a hot summer in Philadelphia. I read this book on one of the hottest days of the summer, and it almost felt like I was in the book. The book gives a very realistic portrayal about the discomforts of life in 1793, and it was interesting and horrifying to read about this episode in history that I hadn’t learned about before.

Because they are out of money, Lila and her father move to Malta from England, in search of a new life. After they’ve been in Malta for only a short time, World War II starts. Lila falls in love with 2 rich English brothers, and must deal with her conflicting feelings for them, as well as the struggles of war.

I’d love to visit Malta someday. This book provided an interesting perspective on World War II from a country that I don’t know a lot about. Although the plot seems fairly straightforward and typical for romantic fiction, the book is quite interesting, Lila’s character grows and changes, and the ending is not as predictable as most romantic fiction.

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