The Sisters Montclair: A Novel by Cathy Holton Edition: Paperback Price: $15.99 Kindle Price: $9.99 Availability: In Stock
A Sweeping Southern Saga, August 4, 2012 The Sisters Montclair: A Novel by Cathy Holton It's easy to get swept up in this story. I found it to be a little slow at first, but quickly I became engrossed with both Stella the young caregiver and Alice the elderly woman who needs the care. This is a story of secrets, some so old and horrible that you might wonder if it really is a good thing to revisit and some secrets so new and horrible that it could send you on a journey you might never recover from. Stella, a young psychology major in college needs a job. At the moment the best she can come up with is being the caregiver to a 94 year old woman who changes caregivers like you would change your socks. Miss Alice is feisty, temperamental, with a bit of Alzheimer's, an arrogant snotty daughter and a pot load of money! Miss Alice can be a charmer when she wants to be, but we learn via her dreams and reminiscences that she had a wonderful fiery, spirited, sexual side to her, yet never did get to do quite everything she wanted to do in life. She ended up settling, but whether it was for good or for bad will be up to you the reader to figure out. Stella is a sweet girl but her appearance is a bit unsettling to most of those around her. With tattoos, facial piercings and dyed black hair you would thing she would be the wrong kind of person to be a wonderful caregiver, but you would be wrong. Miss Alice sees the possibilities as soon as she meets Stella. They become something like friends and while they never quite become best pals and trade secrets, they do learn to laugh and trust each other. Until the story culminates in both of their secrets being revealed. The story flows like a slow southern summer Sunday drive in the country. It sometimes has moments of excitement, and has a surprise or two to keep you a bit off kilter. Ms Holton does an excellent job of making these two women seem so real and is a deft storyteller with a light hand. Sometimes this story could have been overly melodramatic, but as I said Ms Holton knows when to pull back and give us readers a moment to regroup before making the next revelation