Skylight Confessions by Alice Hoffman

[snugglekitty]

I've been a fan of Alice Hoffman since I read her most famous bestseller, Practical Magic, back in college. Since that time I've read many of her books, and she's very prolific. However, the last book of hers that I read was Here on Earth, which I found very bleak, so that made me not want to read more of her work immediately. Skylight Confessions is a new book, that I didn't hear about until it was already out. I thought the premise looked interesting, so I checked it out.

This book chronicles the lives of a troubled family, starting with a father's funeral, through the daughter's marriage, her children, their growing up, their adult choices and relationships. It reminded me strongly of In Her Shoes, but was shorter and denser. This family doesn't have one dark secret at its core - it is riddled with secrets. The secrets affect all its members as they try to move forward from the defining moments of their lives. I really liked this book. Hoffman's prose is excellent, and her characters very lifelike. It would be a fine entree point if you haven't read any of her other work. Four stars.

If you liked The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold or The Mercy of Thin Air by Ronlyn Domingue you'll probably like this one too.

(If you are just getting started, my Hoffman favorites are Fortune's Daughter, Illumination Night, Practical Magic, and Green Angel.)