| Jo rushed into marriage and a career as a teacher only to find she was vaguely dissatisfied, enough to run away from both. She joins a commune in 1960s Cambridge with several men and two other women who are students and professionals. After giving a pseudonym and finding work as a cocktail waitresses, she experiences life in the immediate and builds a friendship with one of the women, Dana, a sensitive and artistic woman. One night coming home from her late shift, she enters the door and finds Dana brutally murdered.
After divorcing her husband and finding love with her second, a minister, Jo has three daughters, one of who is estranged -- mostly from her. Recovering from the turmoil of the murder, she had returned home to Maine and studied to become a veternarian. Practicing in her small town, one of her grown daughters refers a professor whose dog is having problems. After reviewing the case, she determines that the dog needs intensive care or euthansia but more importanly, the professor is not the dog's owner. The owner is Eli Mayhew, the professor's husband, and a former housemate where Dana was killed. Jo finds herself eagerly looking forward to seeing Eli again, to relive her youth, and to review her past. After putting down Eli's dog, she feels an odd kindling of appeal for this former roommate in spite of his former geekish reputation. She pursues a relationship in spite of her happy marriage to a kind and gentle man, Daniel. Jo and Eli meet several times and discuss their past with increasing interpersonal tension. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of book? - thoughtful Time/era of story - 1960's-1970's Romance/Romance Problems Yes Kind of romance: Crime & Police story Yes Story of Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Lover is Main Character Gender - Female Profession/status: Age: - 40's-50's Ethnicity/Nationality Main Adversary Identity: - Female Age: - 40's-50's How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor Intelligence - Average intelligence Setting How much descriptions of surroundings? - 4 () Writing Style Sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - vague references only Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
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