nicholaskole

** spoiler alert ** I really think Julia London outdid herself with "A Light at Winter's End," the last book in her contemporary Cedar Springs trilogy. All three books were excellent, really, but in my opinion this last book was particularly moving. It was hard not to empathize with both Holly, the heroine, and her sister Hannah, who leaves her infant son in Holly's care while she goes to rehab to overcome her addictions to prescription painkillers and alcohol. At first, Holly is overwhelmed and tries to get out of caring for her nephew, Mason, but she soon learns to cope with the demands of a small child and comes to love him as if he were her own son. Therefore, she is distressed when Hannah returns from rehab and Holly must face the prospect of giving Mason up. She worries about what will happen to Mason if Hannah has a relapse or if he begins to feel abandoned and unloved after being passed back and forth from sister to sister. Holly moves into her dead mother's house with Mason because she doesn't have enough space in her apartment for both of them. While staying there, she meets her mother's neighbor, Wyatt Clark, who was the odd man out in "The Summer of Two Wishes" (the first book in the Cedar Springs trilogy). Wyatt is still getting over the end of his marriage to Macy and must overcome his fear of being hurt again if he opens himself to love. Holly has issues of her own to overcome before she and Wyatt can have a lasting relationship. Aside from the problems with Hannah and Mason, Holly must learn to believe in her own self-worth and to value her talent as a songwriter. Her mother never believed in Holly and always belittled her talents, encouraging her instead to be more like Hannah, go to college and get a "real" job. However, Holly finally begins to achieve some success after signing a contract to write three songs for an up-and-coming artist. Quincy, the artist, offers to introduce her to his manager and enourages her to move to Nashville, where he believes she will be in demand as a gifted songwriter. The last 100 or so pages of the book are wrenching as Hannah returns from rehab to reclaim her son from Holly. Unable to cope with the thought of losing Mason, and scared of failing if she moves to Nashville to pursue her songwriting dreams, Holly pushes Wyatt away. He is supportive and encourages her to work things out with Hannah and also to pursue her dream of being a songwriter, but she finds his understanding to be too much to deal with. Holly breaks up with Wyatt, and after Hannah has proven her ability to take care of Mason, she leaves for Nashville. Fortunately, she soon realizes that she loves Wyatt and can't live without him, so she reaches out. He comes to Nashville to attend Quincy's album launch party, and Wyatt and Holly happily reunite. The 3 main characters were all so believable in their struggles, and I was happy for each one of them to end the book in a good place. There are a number of secondary characters (ie. Jesse, who works with Wyatt on his ranch) for whom I wish Julia London would write stories, but my understanding is that she plans to end the Cedar Springs series with this book. If so, she is going out on a high note. I highly recommend this book.

2020-09-19 01:03