Kathleen Tessaro The Innocence

The Innocence

Kathleen Tessaro

Avon, Jun 2006, $12.95

ISBN: 0060522283

When Evie Garlick left Eden, Ohio for London she dreamed of becoming the toast of the town as a stage actress. However, she never achieves her aspirations settling for teaching as she rationalizes that she gave up ambition to raise her son as a single mom.

Lately she dreams of her late dearest friend Robbie, who came from New York when she did. He lived life to the fullest until he died in a car accident. In her dreams Robbie lectures her to stop using her son to hide from life. He insists she relook over her past lovers and her choices over the past fifteen years and reconsider is that what she truly wanted out of her life. Robbie demands she regain the lan she once had as a teen and dream to love again if she is to live again beyond the identity of single mother.

This is a terrific character study that looks at an individual who sacrificed her dreams to raise her son, but now dreams of what could have been. The key to the tale is that though Evie has regrets, she does not apologize for loving her son. Through Robbie's "reappearance" she wonders if she could have both though his spirit forces her to admit she wasted several years hiding from love. Fans of a powerful and insightful look at a person's psyche will want to read Kathleen Tessaro's fabulous sharp tale of a second chance at living if her everyday heroine finds the courage to go for it.

Harriet Klausner