After a couple of weeks of freezing temperatures, with ice and frozen snow making the pavements hazardous, today's been a barmy +6 degrees centigrade, so I came out of hibernation to go for a walk in and around Wetherby. All the charity shops were closed but, fortunately, the discount bookshop was open for me to indulge my book-buying addiction! Having enjoyed two books by Alice Hoffman, Blackbird House and Skylight Confessions, with a third among my books waiting to be read, Blue Diary, I was delighted to find another one I'd not read. Looks good to me!

Amazon Editorial Review: "When the women in the Sparrow family reach thirteen, they develop a unique ability. In young Stella's case, the gift, which is both a blessing and a curse, is the ability to see a person's probable future. Stella foresees a gruesome murder, and tells her charming, feckless father about it, but it is too late - the murder has already been committed and suspicion falls on him. Her mother Jenny, on the other hand, can read other people's dreams, but so often misinterprets them, to her own cost. Hoffman unlocks the caskets of family life and the secret history of a community in this magical story about young love and old love, about making choices - usually the wrong ones - about foresight and consequences, all suffused with the haunting scent of roses and wisteria, and the hum of bees on a summer evening."

I loved this book! Alice Hoffman has a wonderful way with words. They suck you in and swirl you round and take you wherever she wants you to go. When the language tells a gripping story about some wonderful characters, as this one does, then it's totally engrossing.
On their thirteenth birthday, always in March, the Sparrow girls receive a gift, one which normally comes with a price. Stella, born feet first on the spring equinox, thirteenth in direct line from Rebecca who could feel no pain, was always going to be someone special. She starts to see how some people are going to die. Her mother Jenny dreams other people's dreams - which didn't strike me as particularly useful. Her grandmother Elinor can always recognise a lie - although she can't always identify the truth! She knew Stella's father Will was a Liar at first sight! It's his brother Matt who's the good guy!
When Stella 'sees' a girl with her throat cut, she insists Will warns the police of a forthcoming murder. So naturally he's accused when it happens ....

Made available at the weekly meeting of the Phoenix Folk Dance Club!

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Thank you Nu-knees for introducing me to Alice Hoffman. I had never read one of her books before, but am in love with her writing now.
This is a beautifully written book, containing some of the most moving passages I have read in a long time. I found the exploration of the many relationships between the various characters interesting, particularly the touching one between Eleanor and the doctor.
I also liked the philosophical questions the book raises. Is it possible to know the future? How do we hold onto someone we love after death? Is it sensible to pursue our dreams, even when it seems too hard to fulfill them? (Hap's thesis and Eleanor's rose come to mind) A lovely read!

Found this book at the BCUK Unconvention in Leeds - have read this author before, so I didn't hesitate to pick up this book! Thank you!