A New Year, A New Book

Or two new books to be more precise. I have finished both The Photograph and All the Pretty Horses. The latter of which I think I mentioned follows the movie plot (or vice versa) so closely that if you have seen/read one, you have seen/read the other as well. So I am moving on. My next "modern" selection is going to be Devining Women by Kaye Gibbons. Here is the excerpt from the book jacket:

"Autumn, 1918: Rumors of peace are spreading across America, but spreading even faster are the first cases of Spanish influenza, whispering of the epidemic to come. Maureen Ross, well past a safe childbearing age, is experiencing a difficult pregnancy. Her husband, Troop -- cold and careless of her condition -- is an emotional cripple who has battered her spirit throughout their marriage. As Maureen's time grows near, she becomes convinced she will die in childbirth. Into this loveless menage comes Mary Oliver, Troop's niece. The sheltered daughter of a well-to-do, freethinking Washington family, Mary arrives to help Maureen in the last weeks of her confinement. Horrified by Troop's bullying, she soon discovers that her duty is to protect her aunt. As the influenza spreads and the death toll grows, Troop's pitiful behaviors worsen. Tormenting his wife, taunting her for her "low birth," hiding her mother's letters, Troop terrorizes the household. But when Mary fights back, he goes over the edge, and Maureen rallies with a stunning moment of spiritual renewal. In her darkest yet most redeeming novel, Kaye Gibbons scorches us with a firestorm of despair -- then resurrects love and hope from its very ashes."