Monday, July 30, 2018


Dear Great Book Guru,   This is the half way mark for my favorite summer event: Sunset Serenades. With five concerts completed and five more to go, this is a good time to acknowledge the people that make these wonderful evenings possible.  Petrice Kaider proposed this concert concept sixteen years ago to the Sea Cliff Civic Association. The idea was quickly embraced, and every year since she has lined up an amazing group of musicians.  In addition, she and her husband Walter Kaider see that the lights are shining for every Serenade,  Civic Association Board members provide the refreshments, and all of Sea Cliff gets to enjoy a summer of beautiful music.  Now, please recommend a good book for an early August read.  
Grateful in Sea Cliff
Dear Grateful in Sea Cliff, Recently,  I read J. Courtney Sullivan’s SAINTS FOR ALL OCCASIONS.   Reminiscent of Mary Gordon’s early works and Colum Toibin’s BROOKLYN, this novel is a family saga set  over  fifty years,  two continents,  and  told from the perspectives of  sisters Nora and Theresa.  We meet these women as young girls in rural Ireland as they prepare to emigrate to America.  Much of the story is set in Boston from 1967 to 2009 as the two women carve out very different lives in their new home.   Secrets are gradually revealed and we come to realize there are few villains and some unlikely saints in this story.  Highly recommended!

No comments:

Post a Comment