I have a little bit of a problem with the words 'Modern Classics' usually, but in this case it is appropriate. All five titles are worthy of the prefix.

Midwives is undoubtedly one of the finest pieces of fiction in modern years. Bohjalian mixes suspense with drama to create a masterpiece. Its starts out with a tragic death during labour, which may or may not have been the midwife's fault. As you follow the story through the midwife's daughter's eyes, you discover the truth in what is an interesting finale.

A wonder of translation, The Reader is a fascinating novel of morality and social injustices in postwar Germany, It focuses on the Holocaust through the eyes of 15 year old Micheal, whose older lover Hanna, as it turns out is guilty of unspeakable crimes. Emotional and stirring, The Reader is a must have.

Snow Falling On Cedars is a brilliant mystery set in San Piedro. A Japanese American man is on trial for the murder of a white man. Still reeling from racial distrust, the town is baying for blood, but one man must recover from his own distrust and jilted feelings rooted in his past to discover the truth. Beautifully written and vividly imagined, Snow Falling On Cedars is one of my favourite novels.

Believe the hype, Memoirs Of A Geisha is here to stay. This novel is incredibly popular and rightly so. It uncovers Japan's hidden Geisha trade and stuns us all with its revelations. Through the eyes of Japan's 'most famous Geisha' as we are led to believe, we see it all from the youth up, the training, the social manuevering, the infighting as our very own Geisha struggles with her own morality in her search for happiness.

Cold Mountain is in truth a beautiful love story. Winner of the US national book Award this book is strong, maybe not so as the rest, but entertaining and beautiful in its own right.

And finally, A Lesson Before Dying. Always controversial, this story focuses on a man set for execution. Jefferson is the black man on death row, and as he faces social and racial tensions, his grandmother wishes that someone might teach him to die like a man, and that is where our narrator steps in. Beautiful and poignant, Not to be missed.

So there we have it. Beautiful writing didn't die with Austen, the Brontes and Dickens. 20th century authors may just have what it takes to be classics hundreds of years from now. Read and Enjoy.

In rural northern Vermont Terry and Laura Sheldon tragically lost their twin 9 year old daughters in a flash flood two years earlier. As they both progess along their own paths of grief, they decide to open up their hearts and their home to another child. They decide to take in a 10 year old African American foster child named Alfred after they cannot conceive another child on their own. Due to Alfred's past of neglect and the constant shuffling from foster home to foster home, he is reluctant to open himself up to the Sheldon's and his new home. He feels left out by the other kids at school -- either due to his race or the fact that he his a foster child (or a combination of both) remains unclear --but Alfred takes comfront in his neighbor Paul, a retired college professor. As their friendship grew Paul teaches Alfred about some of his history by the means of the Buffalo Soldiers.

Meanwhile the marriage of Terry and Laura continues to disintegrate even after Alfred has joined their family. Terry has a one night stand with a younger woman named Phoebe who ends up pregnant. Now Terry to torn between Laura and Phoebe. But the decision is not all in his hands as these women have a say on their futures in the end. To top it all off Terry has failed to bond with Alfred while at the same time Laura begins to think of Alfred as her son.

... I think one of Bohjalian's strengths was his protrayal of the floods. I could 'see' the cresting riverbanks and destroyed property. Bohjalian really hit the mark! Notwithstanding, I was slightly disappointed in the lack of character development. I often felt that Laura, Alfred and Terry were one-dimensional and 'flat'. Also, the ending was a bit disturbing but it contained a wonderful climatic atmosphere the last 100 pages or so that keep me reading well into the night. Although THE BUFFALO SOLDIER does not live up to the brilliance of THE MIDWIVES, it still remains a good book that I would recommend to others.

Chris Bohjalian has captured the essence of his characters, once again. In THE BUFFALO SOLDIER, a story about grief, marital strife, friendship and neighbors, and the sad past of a little boy trying to survive in the foster care system, Bohjalian manages to pull the reader into the stream of the story easily.

The death of their twin girls has naturally changed Laura and Terry and even two years later we watch as they both continue to deal with their grief, albeit in very different ways. Terry, the cop, and Laura, the animal shelter supervisor, are going to react differently to this tragedy and it's interesting how their job choices reflect their reactions. Bohjalian does this in a very realistic way. Terry wants to be able to control his life, take charge, make things right. This is a very accurate portrayal for a dedicated law enforcement officer. Laura brings another child in their life, Alfred, an African American boy. Not only is this a challenge because his years in foster care have left him distrustful of most everyone, but they are living in Vermont where there are very few other African Americans.

Just as it is Laura's nature to want to help others, protect and love those who don't have someone to care for them, it is Terry's nature to want life to feel more normal, even though he knows it never can.

I was a little disturbed with the ending. It ends well but there were a few questions left unanswered for me. Perhaps Bohjalian is thinking of a sequel in the years to come. Or maybe we can fill in the blanks ourselves.

At any rate, this is another good story by Chris Bohjalian as he continues to make interesting stories from unusual circumstances come alive.

The Buffalo Soldier was an easy, solid read. It's the story of a young African American foster child, Alfred, who after being shuffled around from home to home, lands at the Sheldon residence. Although Terry, a Vermont State Trooper, and Laura, director of an animal shelter, appear at first glance to be perfectly qualified foster parents, the case isn't quite so true. The drowning of the Sheldon twins two years earlier has left Laura in a fog of depression resulting in marital deterioration. Will the arrival of Alfred help to resolve their issues or will it worsen their situation?

And what about Alfred? Follow him in his journey of adjusting to a predominantly white town, prejudice, and an unlikely friendship that inspires him to overcome through the study of the true Buffalo Soldiers. I commend Bohjalian for his very real depiction of foster children and their behavior. Alfred must exist in every foster child.

What I liked about this novel is that it's a very likely, possible account of the challenges a marriage is faced with after the death of a child. The topic of prejudice and friendship seal the deal on a captivating storyline.

This is a book I couldn't put down. It is amazing how Mr. Bohjalian was able to put into writing the feelings of women during childbirth. Certainly it is difficult enough to express those feelings, but to do so as a man shows an incredible amount of compassion and understanding. A lesson to us all, I'm sure. This is a tightly written novel concerning a normally safe home birth gone terribly wrong, and how it affects the lives of all those involved. It twists and turns and leads the reader to wrong assumptions over and over again. At the same time it manages to bring forth the mystery and wonder of life, and especially the moment of birth. The novel is written from the point of view of the Midwife's daughter, who is, at the time of the writing, a doctor, specifically an OB/GYN. Armed with first hand knowledge as well as her mother's copious notes, Constance spins the story of her mother's passion for midwifery, devotion to her trade, and tragic loss of that love after the death of one of her mothers. The trial scenes are wonderfully exciting and maddening at the same time. But more important is the story of love and support in the Danforth family, though not without it's stress and misunderstandings. And Constance tells her own story of growing up and through the tragedy of the public trial, her mother's too close relationship with her lawyer, and her father's struggle to understand and support his wife. All in all, a wonderful book that surprised me a great deal. Thanks to my wife and our book club for getting me to read it.

Chris Bohjalian's 1997 novel Midwives was recently chosen for Oprah's book club of the air. Once again, she has shown good judgment. The premise of this chilling novel is simple: Sibyl, a lay midwife, out to deliver a baby on a night when a severe blizzard makes roads impassible, believes her patient has died and performs an emergency C-section with a kitchen knife to deliver the child. Later, her assistant reports to the police her belief that the mother was not dead, and homicide charges are brought against Sibyl. As a trial lawyer, I can say that Bohjalian handled the legal parts of this courtroom drama very well. He also makes a very wise choice in telling the story in the first person voice of Sibyl's teenage daughter, with excerpts from Sibyl's diary interspersed. The diary itself proves a decisive piece of evidence at the trial, and the daughter's knowledge of its contents her dilemma. This is a fine novel.

My husband and I bought this novel as soon as it hit the market for two reasons. The book is set in Vermont (my hubby's old stomping grounds) and written by a Vermont author. And second, we are both employed in the field of Obstetrics. We were handing out our much less-famous, but quite heartfelt, recommendations long before the novel hit Oprah's famous list.

The character development is well-done. The use of Connie, the midwife's 12 year-old daughter, as the narrative point of view works beautifully. She is a fly on the wall of her own life, and therefore lets the reader follow an extremely complicated story line with an air of detached observation.

The story line touches on the physiology, art, and experience of childbirth. Yet, the world of a lay-midwive serves to launch us into a full-fleged courtroom drama. Despite these two completely different and highly specific settings, Bohjalian does not lose sight of the constantly important family drama and dynamics. While the pages often detail the action of the story line, we are constantly aware of the true drama of the characters' thoughts and emotional struggles.

Bohjalian shows signs of solid research of the technical and cultural aspects of the story. This, combined with his beautiful writing, allows you to "lose yourself" in the story. It is honestly difficult to remember that the words of Sybil, the female lay midwife, are actually those of Bohjalian, a male author. Bohjalian defines moments in childbirth that I have witnessed, but didn't expect anyone to find words for: "E.J. ducked under the pubic bone for the last time, my mother pressing her fingers against the infant's skull to slow her down and give her mother's perineum an extra few seconds to yawn."

This novel is an easy and quick read. But beware of the suspensful plot twists that will always leave you wondering! It's a must own in our opinion.

A book of love, death and a voyage that most people want to take, all are in the book Hangman. Chris A. Bojalian makes this book easily enjoyable. With much detail in every sentence making sure you don't miss anything. As if a fly on the wall, watching every move, then written down quickly so nothing forgotten.
Chris tells a journey of a couple who travel from Manhattan, New York to Deering, Vermont. The major cause of them leaving New York, to get away from all problems and starting fresh. Such that Brian had and affair with a co-worker and lied to his wife, said, "it is over" really when he had just seen her a couple hours before.Brian middle-aged man, a charming husband, loved his wife dearly, not that much, obviously. While Marcia thinking her husband, the best around, why would he do that to her, she loved him so much.
The house that they moved into, an extremely old, almost abandon house in the middle of a small town in Vermont. Loving it all, including fixing it up, room by room, they moved in. With much work left to do they slept in a cold room with no light, just a lamp. The kitchen and living room piled high with boxes, paths between them all. The attic still not touched because new roofing hasn't been put on yet, the door never been open by them. Many empty rooms with nothing to fill them, the doors are shut, trying to conserve heat. Wallpaper still in the plastic wrapping and in bags, they decided on stripes although Marcia wanted bows. Many things still undecided, as everyone tries to work hard to before winter comes.
As Marcia walked through the kitchen one day she realized the cats had disappeared from there. They had been boxed in, because Marcia didn't want them roaming the house yet. So she began to call their names, Solstice and Chloe. Not any were on the first floor; she looked up stairs and again the same thing. Scared Marcia had only one idea where they might be, in the attic, but how. She walked over to the door and placed her hand around the cold porcelain knob. Beginning to pull she realized that it was jammed shut. Only one thing came to her mind, she placed her foot on the casing and planted her other foot, as if stuck in the mud, and pulled. The door flung open and the two cats ran out frightening her. With this in mind all week in stumped her as to how the cats got in the attic, no one had been up there.
Marcia woke about a week later, finding her husband and cats nowhere to be found she was stunned. But then realizing that Brian had sleeping problems she thought nothing of it. When he didn't return after a few minutes she became panicked. She stood and began searching the house for any clues of Brian, none were found. She began to think that maybe the house took Brian and the cats with him, because she couldn't locate them either. When she went to the attic door she became terrified by what she might find. With her foot on the wall and foot in the mud she pulled. The door opened again as hard as the first time. The cats also jumped out and startled her. With flashlight in hand she slowly crept up the stairs. Turning to see Brian hanging from the ceiling beam dead. Calling the police quickly they, never saw anything like this before. They all began to question her, but she only had the information that she found him up there hanging dead.
Investigating this incident, Detective J.P. Burrows. He and his partner had no idea why anyone would do such a thing. Finding out additional information which would have been much more helpful to them earlier in the investigation, Brian had drunken a little too much. It really didn't affect it much, but very valuable.
Marcia quickly took the only necessary things and headed home to her parents house in New York. Her family, shocked by this incident, very surprised that Brian would do such a thing. Many days went on and then came the funeral. Marcia, very upset about the whole thing, had a tough time at the funeral. With family by her side, being watched over closely and questioned everyday became quickly exhausted by everything. She began to look up the history at the Middlebury library, while in Vermont, and found that I little girl also hung herself in the house, at the age of seven. Which made Marcia scared, because she lived in a house where someone had died; thinking still that the house took people. Just bringing it up again petrified her even more then before.
Much more interesting detail filled chapters are to come for me. Not finishing the book it still keeps me interested in reading more, all the time. With no time on my hands although very eager to finish it, Chris A. Bojalian did an excellent job. Anyone could read this book and enjoy the love, death and scariness of this book. Whizzing through this book relatively quickly comes easy. With many exciting events and wanting to know what comes next you won't want to put it down. If you liked this book than consider reading some of Chris Bojalian's other books, such as Midwives.

This is a very suspenseful story. It's about a house that seems to be taking lives & wanting to harm others. But it IS believable. It kept me up at night- looking into the dark in my room. I was very impressed with this novel, a first-rate mystery. I read everything by Bohjalian after reading this & Midwives. All of his books are excellent.

Trans-Sister Radio is the first book I've read of its kind. It is the story of Allie Banks, Vermont schoolteacher, and her lover Dana Stevens. Dana as it turns out, is a male-to-female transsexual and this causes many issues for Allie internally and for her career. The story is told from many perspectives - Allie, her daughter, Dana, and Allie's ex-husband Will. Each chapter is interspersed with the text of an NPR piece. It is so realistic that I sometimes forgot this was fiction.

The author did a great deal of research, obviously, and I felt he was very sensitive to the subject. Although I couldn't sympathise with all of the character's feelings, both Carla & Allie had thoughts & feelings exactly like my own at times. Of course, it was unfortunate that Allie was unable to deal with the physical reality of her lover's new body, but it shows that you can't change who you are inside. Dana couldn't continue to live as a man any more than Allie could magically transform into a lesbian.

I would like to say this would be a great book to teach people about being transgendered or loving a transgendered person. However, the surgery section - while realistic - might be a little much for some people. It is the one chapter that will prevent me from giving this to my mother.

At times, the book felt a bit preachy, like a tutorial on transsexuals. However, most of this information will be new to your average reader, and it's important to educate as well as entertain. It is a far better introduction to the topic than one might get on daytime television.

This novel reads more like the best non-fiction first person accounts. It deals with difficult issues of gender and sexual orientation in a powerful way that would promote compassion and understanding for anyone struggling with with issues related to transsexuality.

A single mom, Allison, is a 6th grade teacher who lives with her college-bound daughter Carly in northern Vermont. They have a very respectful relationship. Carly's father Will is remarried and general manager of the public radio station; he also has a great relationship with his daughter.

Allison takes a summer film course at a college and is attracted to her male professor, Dana. They date and become emotionally involved by September, when Dana tells her s/he is a pre-op transsexual scheduled for surgery in January. Dana identifies as a lesbian. Dana is calm and clear; Allison's reactions and roller coaster thoughts about her own sexual orientation as it relates to Dana's are beautifully written and ring true.

[very mild spoilers follow] The point of view switches between Allison, Dana, Will, and Carly throughout the book. After Dana's surgery, things heat up when the local fundamentalists try to get Allison fired for living with a deviant. Some very interesting quotes here from people who are gay-friendly, but trans-phobic and trying to justify it.

Dana is one of the most interesting narrators, explaining what it's like to grow up female in a male body, and finally be able to correct the birth defect. Dana is calm, kind, and attractive, and able to be supportive to everyone around her. Allison continues to struggle with feeling like she is straight, and hating being censured for who she lives with. Carly goes off to Bennington, and continues to find constructive ways to deal with all the adults in her life while exploring her own sexuality. Will is the most surprising character. At first he seems narrow-minded and controlling, but he eventually uses public radio to make a documentary about the way Dana and Allison are being treated, although he does not report the story himself in the interests of fairness.

This would be a very accessible way for someone struggling with these issues to gain compassion for each of the points of view in the story. And there is a surprise ending.

What would you do if the man you loved told you he wanted to be a woman? Trans-Sister Radio asks this question, and as the answer unfolds, readers will be captivated, fascinated and torn between right and wrong and your own beliefs about sex, gender and what is really important in the one whom you fall in love.

Allison Banks, divorcee and mother of 18-year-old Carly, has finally found the one. Dana Stevens, a college professor, has everything Allison has ever wished for. He's kind, sensitive and handsome. However, after a few months of blissful dating, Dana delivers the news: he is two months away from a sex change operation. What follows is a moral dilemma that rocks the tiny Vermont town in which they live. Should Allison still date Dana? As a teacher, is Allison violating the "role-model/decency" clause? Trans-Sister Radio explores these questions as well as how Dana Steven's sexuality affects those around him.

Chris Bohjalian has written another winner. The writing style is wonderful and gives a birds-eye view from several characters and their thoughts about and reactions to gender dysphoria, homosexuality, and falling in love. Brilliantly told story and one that held me in rapt attention until the conclusion. A highly thought-provoking and intelligent novel.

Silas Marner is a very interesting book. It is filled with excitement and suspense. I liked the book very much, but as a freshman in high school, it was very hard for me to read. George Eliot uses a lot of dialect along with some Old English words in her lovable tale. Eliot tells the story of a lonely weaver. After getting betrayed by friends in his old town of Lantern Yard, Silas moves to the town of Raveloe searching for a new life. His delusions keep him from getting accepted into the Raveloe community. After losing his faith in God and having his money stolen he gets a very special gift from someone he doesn't know, a little baby girl with golden hair. After that things work out for Silas and Eppie. George Eliot tells her classic novel in great detail with a lot of adjectives and metaphors. She has made a great novel that while a challenge is good for everybody. Silas Marner is really easy to comprehend because it is so realistic. I live in a small town and it reminds me of Raveloe. Sometimes I imagine that I am in Silas Marner's place and all my friends are the villagers. I think about what I would do if I was in Marner's place. Eliot also created a great plot for this book. This classic is great because it teaches people about life. It teaches people not to be selfish and to be kind to people no matter how good you think you are. Eliot has made a great book that would be great to read as a family.

Question: How can you ensure that a person will hate a book? Answer: Make her read it for 7th grade English class, make sure that the language is old-fashioned, and above all, make sure that the ideas and concepts are over her head. If that's what happened to you, and that's why you have an aversion to Silas Marner, and you are now over 30, pick it up again. Read it twice. Silas Marner is one of the greatest novels in the English language.

Yes, it starts out sad, as our pathetic hero looses both his trust in humanity and his faith in God. But the power of love replaces his lust for money, and wins out in the end. Meanwhile, morally poor but financially rich, high-living Godfrey Cass provides a counterpoint to simple Silas. At the end there's a surprise when the fate of Godfrey's evil brother is revealed.

When you're all done, before you file Silas Marner on the shelf, go back and read the paragraph about Silas' thoughts when he discovers that his hordes of coins are missing. If you have ever felt sudden extreme loss, you will recognize the stages of despair from disbelief to acceptance "like a man falling into dark water." Which is why this book is not suitable for children, and is most appreciated by those who have undergone their own moral redemption.

Silas has been the inspiration for many other characters, including Dicken's Scrooge. He has been portrayed in movies, including "A Simple Twist of Fate" starring Steve Martin. But none is as good as the original. If you haven't read it since junior high, try it again. Silas Marner is an excellent book. There's a gem of human understanding in every chapter.

I cannot more agree with the reviewers who say Silas Marner is slow moving at the beginning, and that it is slow moving for the first half of the story, however I find that Silas Marner is not actually a story, more a biography, or a discription of the times. The scenes are that era are very vivid; the characters are very true and clear. Silas's betrayal, his 'death' and his obsession with money are reflected in the monotony of the book, just when you begin to feel the story has completely lost track of any clear-cut line, something new happens. Then, Silas is reborn, he remembers who he has been and his family. The most wonderful thing about this book is its summing up, happy ending. Nothing is left hanging, this book definatly has a good ending, and a book with an ending such as this is clearly the work of a gifted author; such as George Eliot. Do not read this book in search of thrilling plot, and captivating characters, read it for it's planning, and mostly for it's joyful conclusion.

Thought I'd like this book, since I know Vermont, have lived through a similar mountain vs. ski resort conflict in New England and am fascinated by dowsing. BUT - the characters are not well developed; they are unconvincing. Hence, the plot doesnt' work. It's essential to the plot that we believe in the conversion of the main character from "cynical lawyer" to environmentalist. This conversion is not believeable. In addition, the writing itself is wooden: heavy-handed metaphor, cliche. The sex scenes, especially the second one, seem irrelevant to the story, too. Not a great book.

The story, at heart, of one man's acceptance of who he is. Scottie Winston is a lobbiest for several large resorts in Vermont. Resorts which use (or abuse) the environment. He is also married into a family of dousers, who, along with many others, oppose the current development in their neck of the woods. Through the processes of time, the timely intervention of three wildcats, and, most of all, love for his wife and daughter, he becomes true to himself. This is a nicely written book, with well-defined characters, a coherent plot, and a happy ending.

Chris Bohjalian's book, Water Witches, is a fascinating study of one Vermont family. Laura and her daughter Miranda are "water witches" - they are able to use rods, and their intuition, to advise people where to place wells so as to have clear, drinkable water in their homes. Laura's sister is also a dowser - however her power extends beyond water, and she is able to find lost items and people.

Scottie is married to Laura. After moving to Vermont, he took the highest-paid job he could find, as a lobbyist for the ski industry. While he has built a name for himself, this job has pitted him against environmental activists. However, Scottie finds himself in a bind when his current employer, Powder Peak, wants to build new trails and tap a depleted river for water to make snow. Scottie, however, becomes a reluctant convert to the environmentalists' point of view when he spies a catamount, an endangered Vermont mountain, where the ski resort was planning on placing the trails. He must wrestle with himself and his commitments to do the right thing.

The ending of the story is incredibly powerful, and winds these two tales together with astonishing grace.

Overall, this book is highly recommended for fans of Bohjalian's other books, including Midwives, and readers who are interested in the often delicate balance between environmental preservation and economic growth.

Unlike Bohjalian's first two novels (Midwives and Water Witches) The Law of Similars is a disappointment. The Law of Similars is an apt title, however, as it is similar to the storyline of Midwives. Both are about women practicing alternatives to traditional medicine who find themselves implicated in the death of a patient. And, both are good in explaining two popular types of alternative medicine. But that is where the similarities end. The Law of Similars falls very short of the well-developed and gripping tale of Midwives. There is no law that says a similar story will yeild similar proclaim. The characters in Similars are undeveloped. Leland Fowler is transformed from a somewhat sympathetic widowed lawyer and father of a young daughter, who is doing his best to carry on with his personal and professional life after the untimely death of his wife, to the less sympathetic, inept and bumbling rescuer of Carissa Lake, his new love interest, and the homeopath accused of prescribing an ultimately fatal remedy. The plot was weak, too predictable, and falls short of being convincing. Was Bohjalian making an attempt at formula writing? Or, was he thinking more of a movie script? Either way, this was a disappointing read.

The state of Vermont. Non-traditional medicine. A tragic death. Moral and legal ambiguities. A deeply engrossing story. Great characterization.

Sound familiar?

Yes. This is familiar territory for Chris Bohjalian, author of the best-selling "Midwives". And again, he does a great job.

I love the way he structures his books. The reader generally knows what is going to happen, but just doesn't know exactly how. And that is what the fascination is. That is what kept me reading, following the protagonist's thoughts and actions and totally getting into his skin.

The story is told in the first person by Leland Fowler, an 35-year old attorney in the Vermont State prosecutor's office. Just two years before, his wife died in a tragic car accident, leaving him to raise his young daughter, now aged 4. He's grieved for his wife for a long time, and his life lacks much pleasure.

When he develops a sore throat and cold that just doesn't go away he visits the local homeopath, Carissa Lake. There is an immediate attraction. His cold gets cured and a romance develops.

However, when one of Carissa's clients falls into a coma, there are legal and moral issues that come into play. The situation becomes more and more complex as Leland makes some ethnical choices that force him into a trap of his own making.

The title, "The Law of Similars" refers to a basic tenet of homeopathy whereby the patient is treated with an extremely diluted dose of something that has caused his problem, forcing the body to cure itself. For example, a person with poison ivy might take a weakened solution of an herb that is similar to poison ivy.

It is all fascinating reading -- the homeopathy, the legalities, and the ethical questions. But most of all, it is the characterization of Leland Fowler that is most outstanding. Basically, he is a flawed and imperfect human being who sometimes makes poor choices. This is something that we all can relate to.

The other characters are never quite as fully developed, but it doesn't matter. This is Leland Fowler's story all the way.

The success of "Midwives" makes this book a rough act to follow, and at first I was disappointed because the author used the same landscape. It is also only 320 pages long and I missed the length and complexities that a few more characters might have brought. But I just couldn't stop reading.

I recommend this book even though it misses getting my highest rating. There is no doubt in my mind though, that I will be on the lookout for Mr. Bohjalian's next book.

This is a very well written book, though a little disconcerting in its thematic similarity to the author's previous novel, "Midwives", which is the superior of the two. Yet again, the medical and legal professions are in some conflict, and it makes for some interesting, though questionable, moral choices.

Here, a widowed prosecuting attorney, Leland Fowler, the single parent of a young child, is living in a rural town in Vermont. Not having felt well for months, he visits the town's resident homeopath and finds himself feeling better, both physically and emotionally, because the homeopath, Clarissa Lake, is just what the doctor ordered.

Shortly after Clarissa and Leland connect, a patient of hers goes into anaphylactic shock, digresses into a coma and dies, ostensibly after eating cashews to which he was allergic, after a casual conversation with Clarissa and a belief in the homeopathic law of similars that like cures like. Leland, emotionally involved with Clarissa, becomes embroiled in a covert attempt to shield her from the legal repercussions that he knows could follow such a tragedy, even though it might not have been entirely of her making. It is here that the book unravels a bit.

This ethical digression on the part of Leland is somewhat difficult to believe, as he had had a very brief relationship with Clarissa. It is almost inconceivable that he would chance losing his entire professional future and the security which his profession provides his small daughter to engage in a major ethical breach. A breach so serious, that were it to come to light, would almost certainly result in his probable disbarrment from the practice of law. Needless to say, this decision by him ultimately affects their relationship in a way not foreseen by Leland.

Nonetheless, the book is somewhat absorbing and well worth reading.