Vanessa Del FabbroCritiques

Another good story in the life of Monica Brunetti. Can you read it as a stand alone? Yes. BUT, you will miss out on a lot of background on the characters in this story if you don't read them in order.

Monica is living in the beautiful seaside village of Lady Helen in South Africa, with her two adopted boys. She has a job she loves and a man she is falling in love with. But all that could change when the man she is interested in has a daughter that doesn't approve of the romance. Then there is Francina, who has a husband she adores and a business that is becoming very profitable. But her life also will be shaken up a lot in this story (won't spoil it for you). Both ladies will come to understand that "risks of love are worth taking". I enjoyed my stay in Lady Helen and my time with Monica and Francina.½

Journalist Monica Brunetti will find herself moving to the town of Lady Helen with her two adopted boys and housekeeper, Francina. Monica will take over the local newspaper and Francina will learn to love again and take on a new adventure. Monica will work hard to save the small community of 'Sandpiper Drift' from being torn down for an expensive golf course. The author does a very good job of giving you a feel for South Africa; its many varied cultures, its beauty and its sorrows. I strongly encourage readers to read book one first, so you get an understanding of how all these characters came together as a strong family unit.½

boring!

This is the fourth and final book in this series and I liked the way the author brought this all to a conclusion. These stories took me to a country I was not that familiar with and helped me to see and understand just a little bit about life in picturesque South Africa.

Monica Brunetti now has a loving husband, two wonderful adopted sons, and a nice stepdaughter. But she is a little obsessed with the one thing she doesn't have and that is a child of her very own. You have her dealing with this issue, along with sending her oldest adopted boy to America for 9 months, and her youngest wanting to become a movie star. Monica's friend, Francina, is also facing some issues in her life and these two ladies are what this story is all about.

You really should read the books in order to get the full background on these ladies and how they come to be friends and how Monica came to have the family she has. I am glad I took the time to get to know life in South Africa and two ladies who have come a long way and endured much. Their faith and their family help them to find the courage to carry on despite many obstacles along their path.½

This was a story that opened my eyes to what the people in South Africa endured in 1998, 4 years after the first democratic elections in South Africa. It was a time of sadness and turmoil, but out of this there were the women in this story, who helped each other survive during a very difficult time in their lives.

South African journalist Monica Brunetti has a promising career and life is good. She lives in a gated white suburb, and takes no notice of those who "serve" her. Then one day she finds herself in a very dangerous situation and lands in a hospital, fighting for her life, and surrounded by people with very dark skin. One of those ladies is Ella Nkhoma, who is also fighting for her life, but in a very different way. Ella will open up Monica's eyes to the "real world" out there and Monica will open up her heart and both ladies will be transformed and a special friendship will last that was very special and endearing.

I at first didn't think I would get into this story, but the more I read, the more this story pulled me in and by the end I had a hard time putting the story down until I finished. The author did a very good job of making you feel the dangerous and difficult times these people endured.½

Plot Summary: What happens, When & Where, Central Characters, Major Conflicts
Enter the world of modern day South Africa as seen through the eyes of two women. One is a white journalist named Monica who becomes the victim of a brutal carjacking while returning from a routine assignment. The other is a black mother named Ella struggling to raise her two kids while hiding the fact that she has AIDS. These two women never would have met if they hadn't been put in adjoining beds at the hospital Monica is taken to after her accident. Despite the front that South Africa puts on as being a "rainbow nation", blacks and whites do not mix and Monica's parents are appalled that she is in a "black" hospital. But, despite their differences, she strikes up a friendship with Ella and the other patients, a friendship that reveals to her a destiny far different than the one she had imagined for herself before the attack.






Style Characterisics: Pacing, clarity, structure, narrative devices, etc.
The story alternates points of view, which makes it a bit hard to follow at first. The culture of South Africa is very foreign, but the author gives clear explanations and vivid descriptions that make it come to life for the reader. That is the strong point of the book--the glimpse it give you of South African life. Monica and Ella are also well-drawn characters. The plot is a bit slow at first but builds, the main conflicts centering around Monica's decisions about whether to go with what God is showing her to do or to give in to what her family and boyfriend and society expect of her.



A thoughtful read, it doesn't stand out to me except for the setting. Seemed a bit blah.½