Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #91099 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

AMAZON.CO.UK
Best-selling author Anita Shreve has chosen as her latest protagonist a 12-year-old girl, whose life has not just been touched by tragedy, but blown apart by it. Nicky and her father have moved to a remote house on the outskirts of a remote village somewhere in New Hampshire, following a road accident which has wiped out the rest of their family. Nicky¹s father would like to live like a hermit, but recognises, even through his intense grief, that 12-year-olds need many things the world has to offer.

And then, one afternoon, just as the light is beginning to fade, a brief walk in the snow-swept woods surrounding their home ­ and a chance encounter ­ brings father and daughter unexpectedly together. United in their shock at finding a newborn baby wrapped in a bloody sleeping bag, they move heaven and earth to save her life. They manage to get the infant to hospital, yet despite an outpouring of emotion, the pair soon start to fall back into their old ways; tiptoeing carefully around each other, fearing to speak the name of their grief, pretending at normality. Until, that is, a pretty young woman comes knocking on their door and all three are forced to question their motives and look into each other¹s hearts.

Light on Snow is a beautifully sad reflection on life and loss, grief and hope and recognising the time in our lives to forgive others ­ and ourselves ­ and move forward. Anita Shreve has proved once again that she is a gifted exponent of the human psyche and the dual frailty and immense strength of the human spirit.

--Carey Green

Review
'Shreve's style is fluent and unpretentious, with an irresistible rhythmic and narrative impetus that keeps you up, reading ever faster, all night...Perceptive, gripping and ultimately exhilarating, this is a very fine book indeed' Sue Gaisford, INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY *'This is Shreve at her poised best, and her controlled, crisply understated prose makes her emotive subject all the more affecting' DAILY MAIL * 'In a world teeming with novels which do not live up to their hype, it is a treat to read one whose emotional depth belies its simple- seeming exterior. LIGHT ON SNOW is a gem of a book by the daintiest of storytellers' Max Davidson, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *'Full of emotional depth, it's not a comfortable read but one that will stay with you a long time' Star Choice, DAILY MIRROR *'Emotionally rich...it's the literary equivalent of a snuggly blanket on a snowy night' MARIE CLAIRE *'Shreve delivers a skilled and very readable book' SUNDAY TRIBUNE (IRELAND).

MARIE CLAIRE
'Emotionally rich . . . it’s the literary equivalent of a snuggly blanket on a snowy night'

Customer Reviews

A simple but heartfelt book
Twelve-year-old Nicky Dillon and her father are starting life anew in rural New Hampshire following a family tragedy. As both finally settle into familiar patterns and routines, an unexpected "find" one wintry day impinges on the natural order that they have worked so hard to achieve. When they stumble upon a newborn baby girl left abandoned in the woods little do they realise the maelstrom that is about to follow.

In "Light On Snow" Shreve focuses on her usual themes of love and loss. But she also explores family relationships, the responsibilities we have to one another through thick and thin, the fine line between happiness and despair, and the ties that bind us to people and places. Through the eyes of her female narrator we also get to glimpse the bond between a daughter and her grief-absorbed father, and, in turn, the loss felt by a young girl for her dead mother.

Shreve's language is always sparse and deceptively simple. But it's what's going on between the lines that really hits home. There is plenty of anger, misery, heartache and joy all bound up in just 288 big-print pages. But while it is an emotional book Shreve never resorts to melodrama or sentimentality. Her pitch, her tone, her balanced style is superb.

This is a lovely, heartfelt book. But I would expect nothing less of Shreve who has become one of my firm favourites in recent years.

Sensitive & Well Written
A very touching story of a father and daughter finding a newborn baby left to freeze in the snow and the baby's mother later turning up on their doorstep. Relationship problems all round make a touching and enjoyable story. This was not Anita Shreve's usual style of writing (usually writes over a three period time span or jumps forwards and back in time) as this was written as one short stretch of time. She has an unusual way of writing, not always excellent stories but there is always great intrigue there to make you carry on and want to read another of hers. Her very best are The Pilot's Wife and Fortune's Rock, both excellent books.

Classic Anita Shreve
Another classic anita shreve novel. It starts slowly & draws you into the characters and their emotions and feelings. Nothing much happens but you grow to appreciate the characters and understand their outlook on life as you try and guess the exact circumstances of the baby being abandoned. A good book that manages to keep your interest despite an overriding stillness.