A slower, gentler pace than I’m used to, but so so good. Characters had time to develop, I could enjoy the scenery, the twist didn’t slap me in the face but was more like an awakening. I liked the quirkiness of the older characters doing things they had done in the mid 1900s (tomato aspic mold anyone), but some readers might not appreciate that kind of old fashionedness. I loved the writing, the Maine and Philly settings, and everything about this book.

This is a very good and well-written book, but by the halfway point (maybe 1/3) I found myself wishing things would just hurry up and move along. I liked the story and the characters but it felt like we were being spoon-fed their every action for every day (this is hyperbole, it did do a lot of time jumps. But damn, it still felt like molasses). And it might have something to do with the age of the characters, but I had to keep reminding myself it was taking place in 2000 and not 1950.

All in all, a really good book that I'm sure lots of people will enjoy. But don't be surprised if you need to set it aside a few times to read books with a bit of a faster pace.

A beautifully written novel. Ms. Dark delves into the questions of friendship loyalty, along with the sometimes very different family loyalty while looking into what a person might do in cases of questioned loyalty in regard to what they themselves are giving up rather than putting their own wishes first.