The chapters in this book alternate between two women - Claire, a young wife and mother in the Washington DC area in 1961, and Vivian, a 37 year old “spinster” who lives in San Francisco in 1919.
Vivien is the obituary writer; her reputation has spread widely so grieving people seek her out to write the life stories of their deceased relatives. Vivien is well suited for this. She has spent the last 13 years grieving the loss of her beloved David who disappeared in the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Apparently his body was never recovered and Vivien is convinced that David is still alive.
Claire, along with all of America, is fascinated with the President-elect, John F. Kennedy, and his glamorous wife Jackie. Claire is married to Peter who has a prestigious government job and is a good provider, but her marriage is loveless. Claire had been having an affair with Miles, who she met while working on JFK’s campaign. The affair ended when Peter discovered them together. Now Claire is 5 months pregnant and doesn’t know whether the baby is Miles’ or Peter’s.
You know the two women’s lives are going to intertwine at some point. The author gives no clue as to how, so when they do come together I was truly surprised. That was a plus for the book. In addition, the author threw in another unexpected twist at the end. Those two surprises were the best part of this book for me.
The problem I had with Vivien is this - would someone really wait around for 13 years for someone presumed dead? She goes to some extreme measures to try and “find” David as well. I mean, get over it!
The problem I had with Claire - is every married woman in books miserable? Yikes! I don’t blame Peter for being edgy after he found his wife in bed with another man. Considering he has doubts as to whether or not the new baby is his, he seemed to be trying to make things work. Claire also seemed unloving to her toddler Kathy while always gushing over her unborn baby.
The worst part was something Claire does that risks her life and that of her unborn child. I don’t think there is a pregnant woman out there who would do what she does. I suppose we should presume she had a moment of mental instability, but at no time does Claire seem unbalanced. Of course the results of her actions are tragic, yet nobody seemed very disturbed.
The book is about love and loss, yet I did not feel emotionally invested in either of these characters.
I think it would be hard to accept that someone is dead if they just go missing, and there is no real confirmation they are really gone. Every time I see news about someone missing, I think that has to be so painful for the people looking for them, because until a body is found, it seems like you would want to cling to the hope they are still alive somewhere.
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