I enjoyed reading Ms Clayton's debut novel. I was unaware that it was her first until after I finished due to the fact that I have stopepd reading the jackets. My apologies to the jacket writers out there, but I am in a place where I want to find out the whole story as I go.
I found myself very attracted to the characters, especially Nelly, the protagonist. A young widow with two kids, she moves away from the city and to a farm house her father owns and once lived in. She never knew of the place, adding intrigue to her father's character.
She befriends Emma Crofton, or rather Emma befriends her. The mysterious connection that Emma hints at keeps Nelly wondering, but she enjoys her company and that of her son, Dac.
The connection between Nelly's father and Emma grows as Nelly'd does with Dac. Though neither come to typical fairy tale solutions, the relationships are interesting.
I was a little distracted by the thought that Emma might be manipulating Nelly in not very nice ways, but came to conclude that her worries or guesses could be true and she felt she must warn Nelly.
The most powerful storyline is Nelly's war with her self confidence. Never feeling as good as the other two photographers in the family, Nelly has always doubted herself. Her new freedom to make her own decisions allows her to explore her desires and ambitions. She finds herself.
While there is no resolution to the Nelly/Dac story, I'd like to think they remained friends and perhaps grew closer.
The key to this was Nelly's self evaluation and her newfound confidence.
I enjoyed the writing and the story very much. Good Job! ( )

Nelly is a young widow who moves to her famous photojournalist father's inherited country estate soon after her husband's death to seek a new life for her two young boys and herself. Soon after moving in, Nelly finds support from Emma, an affluent and powerful matron of the community, who has owned and raced horses since she emigrated from England after World War II. Nelly finds herself conflicted as she struggles with the grief for her husband and her emerging interest in Emma's son, Dac. As Nelly attempts to make sense of the entangled relationships and secrets of her friends' pasts, Nelly recommits herself to her lifelong passion for photography while questioning her own potential as a photojournalist and what it would mean to her to follow in her father's footsteps. As with "The Wednesday Sisters", I found myself enraptured by Meg Waite Clayton's story, which was rich in sensory descriptions which are capable of evoking strong visceral responses in the reader. I found myself in tears several times during the story, which were lightened by the supportive and loving moments with the children and Nelly's newfound friends. My only criticism is the limited resolution in the ending, which falls short in helping the reader detach from the powerful characters and their unresolved conflicts. This novel is scheduled to be re-released in Spring 2011, which will no doubt be a successful maneuver given Ms. Waite Clayton's growing reputation as a very talented writer, which will surely reach a pinnacle after the release of her newest novel, The Four Ms. Bradwells (March 2011). ( )