Light on Snow is a satisfying read, which I could not leave alone until I had finished it. Although sad, as are the other Anita Shreve books I have read, the story is somehow heartwarming with a positive ending. The account of the newborn baby abandoned in the snow and discovered by Nicky and her father gradually unwinds to reveal their own sadness and the reason for their isolated quiet life in the mountains. Their day to day relationships with each other and the townsfolk they know, are well drawn and the characters have real depth.

The appearance of the baby's young mother, her story and her own memories combine to make Nicky act independently. However, they have a close and understanding relationship which is shown in minute detail. I love the way she writes, and I found this to be yet another great story. Very unexpected in its twists and turns, and compulsive reading. It made me think about the mystery of life and the challenges we face.

Light on Snow
Anita Shreve
Little, Brown, Oct 2004, $25.95, 304 pp.
ISBN: 0316781487

Thirty-year-old Nicky looks back at the event that changed her and her father from gloom and depression to hope for the future. Just prior to Christmas 1983 in New Hampshire, twelve-year-old Nicky Dillon and her father Robert walk in the woods when they find an abandoned newborn female with the umbilical cord still attached. They take the blood-drenched infant to the nearest hospital while the police search for the parents. The incident shakes both Dillons to the core because it serves as a fragile reminder of life; two years ago Nicky's mother and her one-year-old sister died in a car crash in Westchester County.

Not long after the baby survives her ordeal, the nineteen-year- old mother Charlotte arrives at the Dillon home to learn how her infant is doing. Robert wants Charlotte to leave as he is feels nothing but contempt for her, but refuses to turn her into the police. A blizzard forces Robert to allow the still fatigued Charlotte to remain in his home.

LIGHT ON SNOW is an engaging character study that emphasizes how pivotal events impact a person's life. The storyline is seen through the almost two decade looking back perspective of Nicky, who uses an adult lens to look back to her preadolescence in which she and her father were shrouded in grief until the rescue occurs. Although the total blame to the abandonment belongs to the father of the baby making it too easy to loath him and sympathize with everyone else, including the mother, and for the rest of the key cast to forge relationships, fans of Anita Shreve will appreciate her latest tale.

Harriet Klausner