Love, Alice by Barbara Davis

In the 1960s, a young English woman is sent away in shame. In the now, a young widow wonders where things went so wrong. The two stories meet and intermingle under the guard of a sad South Carolina cemetery angel.

The most famous marker in the cemetery sits not far from Dovie's fiance's headstone, where she visits every day to eat her lunch and wonder why he committed suicide. But one day her attention is drawn over to the Tate angel when an elderly woman leaves a letter (and her glasses) there.

Dovie's beating herself up about something she had no control over, and she's falling apart at the seams. Suddenly, it's much more interesting to get involved in somebody else's drama, even though she can clearly see this meddling is going to be bad for her career and future.

I'm not sure why I picked this book up, and I'm even less sure why I kept reading - it's way too saccharine for my taste, but I persisted. It's not a bad book - if you like romance novels and fated love stories you'll enjoy it. There are twists and minor surprises along the way. It resolves well. (Blech.)

Somebody Else's Daughter by Elizabeth Brundage

While I enjoyed this book, it suffers a bit from identity crisis: is it a literary story of a father who gave up a child to adoption? Is it a coming-of-age story from behind the scenes at a private school? Or is it a dark mystery thriller? It's hard to be all those things, and leads to a story that's a bit scattered.

I would have liked a story told from Nate's point of view. He was unfit to be a father and knew it. Eventually his life turned around, and his losses haunt him.

I would have liked a story about privileged Willa and barely-getting by Teddy, high school teens finding themselves.

But the rest? Eh.