Reading, for me, is entertainment and an escape from the real world. But it can also inform and stretch the boundaries of the life I live.
This is a book of interconnected stories, giving a snapshot of the lives of individual descendents of a Massachusetts town's founding families. They're told in chronological order, roughly one story per generation. The axis around which they all revolve is the house and (magical? mystical?) garden of the principal founder. The themes seem to be of a sense of belonging and alienation, of love and grief. They're fairly well written, but overall unsatisfying. Each story is too short and incomplete to be an actual short story, but a little too long for drabbles. They kept me engaged enough to retain my attention and take my mind away from the drudgery of household chores this weekend, but I've just finished and have already forgotten most of it.
Audiobook version, borrowed from my local public library. Nancy Travis's performance was adequate but uninspired.