Cheryl's Book Nook

Review by Nancy In a world of long lived Catholicism the choices are never easy. When the oldest son, the “Golden Boy” is terribly injured no one knows where to turn except the Church. The Church, as often happens; falls short. By a mile or two. In Shared Emptiness , author John Brinling shows us both sides of the coin. The daughter, outshone on every level by her older brother, who clings to Mass as a life jacket. Mom who has grown up in the Church and feels herself damned for thinking of killing her only son. Dad who isn’t as strict on going to Mass (even if right across the street) but loves to play the horses and loves his family even if he does a piss-poor job of showing it. Then the aunts and uncles and cousins weigh in and they are as torn as the Carters. They have their own issues of pregnancies, dead children, unloved spouses and are getting no answers there, either. Chris Carter somehow kept this whole group connected. He wasn’t a staunch Catholic, either’ but his grins and p...

Review by my friend, Nancy The Ghost of Flea should have been written by Alfred Hitchcock. It seems as though it would have made a splendid movie with all of it's twists and turns of plot. The main character could have been Cary Grant. Roger Davis is a good, loyal workerbee. He is on time, stays late, is married to Natalie who may or may not have slept with half of his office prior to the wedding. Roger has a friend in Gideon whom he sees once a week. Gideon browbeats Roger mercilessly and, one night shows Roger his newest treasure. A painting by Blake entitled The Ghost of a Flea. The painting is hideous but Gideon is much taken with it. After his show and tell he brings out the pipe and, this time for some reason; Roger smokes with him. And everything about Roger's life changes in that instant. He is lied to by his wife, his co-workers, Gideon and probably even the painting. He loves Natalie but she denies ever telling him she wants children. Then she lies about denying the d...