Thanks to JCPL Librarian Lisa Williams for sharing her thoughts about “Light on Snow” by Anita Shreve. You can find the book in ebook and audiobook format in the READS catalog or on the Libby app.
Click here if you’d like help using READS or Libby.
Written by best-selling author Anita Shreve, “Light on Snow” has at its heart a mystery that is really two mysteries. Most obviously, who abandoned the newborn infant found by 12-year-old Nicky and her father, snow-shoeing in the woods near their home late one evening? But also, why did tragedy bring them to live a nearly hermit-like existence in this small New England village, and will this coincidence bring a reckoning into their lives?
Shreve’s writing is propulsive and carries you along past some drawbacks. To an extent, the novel’s success depends on some suspension of disbelief and a tolerance of rather broad characterizations: the whip-smart growing girl in desperate need of a female role model, the stoic, silent-in-his-grief father, the smarter-than-he-seems detective, and so on. Shreve creates enough tension to be engaging, and the emotional content will enthrall many readers. Fans of coming of age and women’s fiction will eat this one up.
As a side note, the musical pieces tying the chapters together in the audiobook version are absolutely exquisite! (You can find the audio version in READS.)
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