trade-size paperback.

from the back cover:
When an elderly woman is mugged on a London street, the event begins a series of mishaps that ripple across the lives of acquaintances and strangers alike. A marriage falls apart after an illicit love affair is revealed through an errant cell phone message; a posh yet financially strapped interior designer meets a business partner who might prove too good to be true; an old-guard historian tries to recapture his youthful vigor with an ill-conceived idea for a television miniseries; and a middle-aged central European immigrant learns to speak English and reinvents his life with the assistance of some new friends.

Was drawn into the story within the first few pages.

Sent on to someone who had this on her wish list.

Thank you so much for the RABCK, waterfalling! Looks like a great read and I appreciate your generosity!

Edit 4/15/17: I'm partway through this book and am enjoying it (I often read several books at once) :-) . Am offering it in bookstogive's General Literature VBB. As soon as it's requested, I'll finish it...if not before. :-)

Like waterfalling, I was drawn into the story immediately. Ever since I saw the movie “Sliding Doors” I’ve been intrigued by how one event can change the course of one’s life and how it can also affect many other people. This book does a great job of illustrating that. It’s well written and the characters seemed very real – a couple of the unpleasant ones made me want to jump into the pages of the book and throttle them. It also had its moments of humor (or at least my kind of humor) 😊

While recovering from her mugging, Charlotte spends the extra free time reading. I absolutely loved the following paragraph:

“Forever, reading has been central, the necessary fix, the support system. Her life has been informed by reading. She has read not just for distraction, sustenance, to pass the time, but she has read in a state of primal innocence, reading for enlightenment, for instruction, even. She has read to find out how sex works, how babies are born, she has read to discover what it is to be good, or bad; she has read to find out if things are the same for others as they are for her – then, discovering that frequently they are not, she has read to find out what it is that other people experience that she is missing.”

The characters and situation and the interrelatedness of all things made this a real joy to read. I’ll look for other books by this author.

Thanks once again for sharing this, waterfalling!

On its way to tabby-cat-owner via bookstogive's General Literature VBB. Sorry for the delay!

I hope you enjoy the book!

I received this in the mail from Eponine38 of Winchester, Massachusetts. I requested it from the General Literature VBB organized by bookstogive of Tennessee.

Thank you for mailing me this book, Eponine38.

This was a well-written book. I liked the idea that one event sent out ripples of change in the lives of other people. Yet, many of the characters in the book were unlikable which made reading unpleasant for me. This book had several surprise endings in the many storylines that were told.

This book has been sent to Shann24lvr of Missouri because it was on her wishlist.

Received today from tabby-cat-owner. Thank you very much! I am looking forward to reading this one.

I was excited to read this. I found myself losing interest in the majority of the characters about halfway through. The fact I wanted to see what happened to a couple is the only reason I finished it.

It does make you think about the ripple effect one has on the universe.

Sending this off as part of the 'reading it want it' thread. Enjoy!

--In case it gets lost--
Hello! Thanks for picking up this book I left and taking the time to let me know that it has began another leg of its journey. You have not only found yourself a book, but a whole community of booklovers dedicated to sharing books with each other and the world at large. I hope you'll stick around a bit and get to know BookCrossing and maybe even join (its free to do so). You may choose to remain anonymous or to join (it is free). If you do choose to join, I hope you'll consider using me, Shann24Lvr, as your referring member.

Feel free to read and keep this book, or to pass it on to a friend or even set it out "in the wild" for someone else to find like you did. If you do choose to join and journal, then you can watch the book as it travels- You'll be alerted by email each time someone makes another journal entry. It's all confidential (you're known only by your screen name and no one is ever given your e-mail address), free, and spam-free. Happy reading!

This book arrived in Seattle, Washington. Thank you!
PS I love the butterfly bookmark. <3 <3 <3