SOUVENIR

Author: Therese Fowler ISBN: 9780345499684 2/2008 FICTION Publisher: BALLANTINE

Meg Powell and Carson McKay grew were raised side by side on their families’ farms, bonded by a love that only deepened. Everyone in their small rural community in northern Florida thought that Meg and Carson would always be together. But at twenty-one, Meg was presented with a marriage proposal she could not refuse, forever changing the course of her life. Seventeen years later, Meg’s marriage has become routine, and she spends her time juggling the demands of her medical practice, the needs of her widowed father, and the whims of her rebellious teenage daughter, Savannah, who is confronting her burgeoning sexuality in a dangerous manner, and pushing her mother away just when she needs her most. Then, after a long absence, Carson returns home to prepare for his wedding to a younger woman. As Carson struggles to determine where his heart and future lie, Meg makes a shocking discovery that will upset the balance of everyone around her.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Every once in a while I read a book that completely captivates me, holds me by the heart and won't let go. Once in a blue moon I read a book that I love so much, I've just got to share my thoughts with friends and family, urge them to read the book for themselves and then tell others about it. SOUVENIR is one of those every-once-in-a-while, blue-moon books. I loved it, from the first word to the last. I enjoyed it so thoroughly that I sat up through the night and read it from cover to cover. Yes, it's that good.

The story opens on the day of twenty-one-year-old Meg Powell's wedding. She is sneaking out to see Carson, the man she's been closest to for sixteen years. Meg knows that if things had been different, she might not be marrying Brian-but things haven't been different. They've been what they've been, and she's made her decision. Now, she must learn to live with it. But first, she must see Carson.

Meg's got a secret, something she literally carries into her marriage like baggage from a past life. The choice she makes that morning of her wedding, and all the choices she makes afterward, have a bearing on a choice she gives to one of the men in her life. I don't want to give anything of this story away. It wouldn't be fair to do that because the joy of reading this poignant book shouldn't be diminished by a reviewer who just wants to go on talking about what she's read.

This is a character-driven story which sweeps the reader into the thick of it all. I sobbed, and laughed, and enjoyed this book more than I can say. Therese Fowler knows how to tell a story and has become, with this first novel, a name I will look for in the future. SOUVENIR is one of the best books I've read in a long time, and I'll tell anyone who'll listen just how good it is. I sincerely recommend reading this book. It is a knockout.

Kay James