Juliet by Anne Fortier

If you happen to be a romantic who was enthralled by The DaVinci Code’s fast-paced thriller style then you will thoroughly enjoy the novel Juliet.  The story begins with a funeral.  Again, like the last novel I read (I swear I am not morbid) two sisters are dealing with death, this time their beloved aunt, who raised them since they were very young.  And again, our two sisters Julie and Janice, are complete opposites, but not in a cliché way.  Both sisters are much more three-dimensional.  This is where the similarities between this story and the last end.  The remainder of this tale is full of interesting twists and turns.

         The reader quickly discovers that the two sisters have an unknown past, and this is where the story really begins.  After receiving a puzzling letter from her aunt and being cut out of her will, Julie is off to Siena, Italy to try to discover her mother’s mysterious treasure.

         Her mother’s secret is connected to the well-known love story of Romeo and Juliet, and our modern-day Julie soon discovers that Juliet aka Giulietta is her ancestor.  Julie quickly retraces the steps of her relative through manuscripts and Shakespeare’s play, and in the process finds her own path crossing with Romeo’s descendants.  Though not named the Montagues and Capulets, the family feud and the “plague on both [their] houses” still exists. 

         Fortier’s story of a modern day Juliet is highly entertaining and the further the reader gets into the novel, the more one believes that maybe this isn’t a fairy tale, perhaps it is real.

         To all of my English I teachers, please read this novel—you will enjoy it!

A Soft Place to Land by Susan Rebecca White

         When Kathryn Stockett (author of The Help) is quoted saying she “loved this book,” I was excited.  Unfortunately the book didn’t live up to my high expectations.  I found The Help incredibly inspiring and I can’t wait for the movie, but A Soft Place to Land is lacking. 

         The story is about two young sisters, Ruthie and Julia, who are complete opposites.  Each girl represents a specific archetype for the majority of the novel.  Ruthie is your standard “goody two shoes,” while her older sister Julia is a cliché teenager dying to rebel.  The relationship between these two sisters is what is meant to carry this narrative, but it doesn’t succeed until the later half of the novel. 

         While on vacation Naomi and Phil Harrison, Ruthie and Julia’s parents, perish in a plane crash leaving their daughters distraught.  Ruthie is sent to live in bohemian San Francisco with her aunt and uncle, while Julia is “stuck” living with her biological father and his heinous new wife in Virginia.   Much of the story is driven by a series of letters between the sisters.  Each girl’s upbringing is totally different and obviously begins to define them, eventually causing a natural distance between the sisters. A high profile outing and another tragic accident eventually brings the estranged girls together again. 

         Details of the pain each daughter suffered after their parents’ accident make this story “real.”  Unfortunately the relationship seems forced, and isn’t strong enough to carry the novel. 

         This is a quick read, but I wouldn’t put it at the top of your reading list.