Winter has come to Shepherd, New Hampshire. Twelve-year-old Nicky Dillon and her father are snow-shoeing in the woods near their home when they hear the cry of an abandoned newborn. They get the baby girl to the hospital in Mercy just in time to save her life. And they think that's the end of it. But it's not; it's only the beginning.
I probably would never have read this book except I needed a novel set in New Hampshire for my Reading New England Challenge. So I was a little surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Nicky is an engaging narrator. She and her father are still healing from the personal tragedy that struck their family two years earlier; it's why they moved to New Hampshire from New York in the first place. But the baby they find in the woods stirs up memories for both of them...and entangles their lives with that of the baby's young mother, changing all of them.
This is a moving story of love and grief and family, and of consequences and hope. I like the way Anita Shreve weaves together the Dillons' past and present. And I got caught up in the young mother's story. I also liked the New Hampshire setting, especially the Dillons' secluded old farmhouse and the quiet beauty of the snowy woods. It makes for a perfect winter read. Just make a cup of hot chocolate, grab an afghan, curl up on the couch, and enjoy.
Happy Reading!
