The Dream Daughter, again

The Dream Daughter is still on my mind. I'm currently reading several other books, not just reading, but totally into three other books. Yet, Diane Chamberlain's book lingers. For that matter so does, Before We Were Yours, about the siblings in the Tennessee Children's Home.  This makes me wonder, what makes a book stay with you so? Is it a certain genre? As I've repeated until, not only I am blue in the face, but undoubtedly so are you (send Violet Beauregarde to the juicing machine), I love thrillers. Yet, I'm trying to think of a thriller that stays with me like these books.

So, is it a genre that makes books linger? Is it a story that has children or perhaps is sweeping in time, showing much of a life giving us a very full story? Is it love that lingers?

The person that figures this out will probably call the NY Times Bestseller List home.

The Dream Daughter by Diane Chamberlain

I just read The Dream Daughter, by Diane Chamberlain. This book, published by St. Martin's Press will be for sale October 2, 2018.

I was nervous about reading this book. It has time travel and medical stuff, both of which I completely avoid. I was absolutely mesmerized by this book, reading it in three days when I had other things I should have been accomplishing.

This is the story of Carly, a young physical therapist who loses her husband in Vietnam, but discovers that she is carrying his child. Happy to have that remaining piece of him, Carly is crushed to hear that the baby has a fatal heart flaw and will die right after birth. There is help, however, in the form of Carly's brother-in-law, Hunter, who has traveled back in time to 1970 and stayed there because of his love for Carly's sister and their young child. Hunter proposes teaching the pregnant Carly to time travel, sending her to 2001, where she might be able to get the baby's heart fixed while still unborn producing a normal, healthy child.

The story moves quickly, keeping the attention on the small cast of characters. Carly and family are completely endearing. The ending is a surprise and perfection, completely satisfying. I am struggling as I don't want to give the story away, but it is interesting and beautifully written. It makes you wonder what you would do for the person you love. When does that love become selfish? Best of all this is one of those kind of books that lingers, staying with you, maybe forever.