This was an awesome book! I could really relate to the small-town northern setting. The quirky characters and the main character's achievement of her dream were compelling. I highlight recommend this one - thanks for the suggestion, Holly! ( )

Superficial character development and light on prose. The dialog was choppy and sometimes difficult to follow. Oh well, I read it for my book club. ( )

I was not impressed with the main character initially. Although she does "grow up" in her attitudes, I found her unreliability and her obsession of hatred with past issues annoying. The story gave an interesting perspective of life in a small town. ( )

A young woman responds to a request for help from an old family friend. Madeline ventures forth from Chicago, where she has been living, to McAllister, a small town on the northerly edge of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (aka the south edge of Lake Superior). She comes to take care of Arbutus, sister of Gladys, who was Madeline's grandfather's lover many years ago.

Needing a change in her life, Madeline heads to Michigan to help with Arbutus. I found it odd that Gladys would write, to begin with, and that Madeline would respond in the way she did, but in a way that is the subject of the book.

In McAllister, Madeline discovers a world of people living on the edge and using whatever means they can to keep it together. That is, whatever means are acceptable in a small town. Thus Gladys reaching out the way she did makes a kind of sense.

Through many reverses, Madeline comes to know the town and to understand what happened to her when she was three years old, why she had been abandoned by her grandfather. She learns far more about "it takes a village", although those are not words anyone here uses.

Having grown up in the UP (although in the "big city" of Marquette rather than a small town), I am conscious of what hard living in difficult weather can make of one. I think Airgood did a good job of presenting both the good and the bad here, without sinking into sticky sweetness. ( )

A great story of a 35 year old woman finding herself, her roots,
and her purpose in life. This is a story of a woman who left
behind everything and everyone behind to return to the town her
mother took her from as a young child, where she discovered a
family she didn't really know she had and her family's story and
history. Throughout the book, Madeline slowly transformed from
a passive, city wary woman into a woman who becomes
enmeshed in the lives of the people of the tiny lakeside town of
McAllaster. This was a lovely story set in a charming little town
full of life, character, and an old, simpler way of life. The
characters were very artfully brought to life, filling the pages with
a different way of living and seeing the world in a subtle clash of a traditional way of life and a more modern way of life. The author did a beautiful job of bringing the town and its inhabitants to life. I look forward to reading more from this author! ( )