Crowell intends her grieving heroine's witchy self-centeredness, but may have carried the trait too far. At novel's end, hope glimmers. A man named Jascha Kremsky appears on Gloria's doorstep and may be melting her wintry heart. Mom is visiting from America and so far is behaving nicely. Oddly, this young writer is strongest in the passages describing Bill's cancer death.
Details are well observed and movingly described.
Cowell is now a sophomore at Goucher College. Mary Kamps is a writer and reviewer who lives in Shorewood. All rights reserved.