Select language, opens an overlay

Comment

path111
Jan 30, 2015path111 rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Emily Shepherd at 16 seems on the outer edge of life. Her parents dependence and preoccupation with alcohol leaves only an ancillary place in the family. Her father's error at the nuclear plant brings down the whole community as well as her family's reputation and existence. Assuming a new identity, Emily lives now on the edge of Vermont society. The author has Emily divide her exile as before meeting Cameron and after. I didn't appreciate the pivotal role the author assigned to their relationship. Granted that she got out of herself and reached out to the 9 year old and the family dog, she didn't seem radically changed. Emily has a deep interest in the poetry of Emily Dickinson. In the end she laments that she has not done what the poet asks of each of us: to lift each other's heartache.