Dear Great Book Guru, With the holidays approaching, I will be feasting with friends and family - always great fun! I am particularly excited because we have heard one of our friends is coming out with his first novel. Do you know anything about it? Fan of the Holidays...... Dear Fan of the Holidays, yes – long-time Sea Cliff resident Charles Hansmann has written his debut novel SKYLIGHTING. It should be available just after Thanksgiving. The story opens in Ireland at Shannon airport. Our first-person narrator Nick and his wife Erin are joyfully embarking on a journey headed towards Dublin when moments into the story, the car crashes and Erin is dead. The remainder of the novel becomes a Homeric odyssey as Nick travels from place to place - continent to continent - in an attempt to assuage his grief and guilt. Along the way he meets an assortment of characters - each offering him some insight into existence. A teenage girl is his first encounter, and her troubled tale sends him searching further. Along the way he meets a myriad of characters – some troubling, some nurturing, always described in exquisite detail. As he travels from one city to another, we sense an underlying mystery that is about to be revealed, but like Odysseus, our hero finds the quest reward enough. Highly recommended !