The Edge of Lost

The Edge of Lost by Kristine McMorris  352 pages

I picked up this book based on the cover. In the background is Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, the island prison in San Francisco Bay. I had just returned from the Bay area and was eager to hold onto its sights and sounds as long as I could.

The story opens on Alcatraz in 1937. Inmate 257 tends his greenhouse at the warden’s home.  He strains to hear the sounds of a search for a prison guard’s missing ten-year-old daughter. Alcatraz inmates were only known by their number. On the outside, Inmate 257 was known as Tommy Capello. However, that was not his real name.

The story shifts to Dublin in 1919. Shanley Keagan (Shan) is a twelve-year-old orphan living with an abusive uncle. Shan can sing, do impressions, and tell jokes. He becomes a regular in his uncle’s pub and other pubs around the city. When he discovers a letter from his departed mother, he realizes that his father is not dead. He is an American; Shan is elated. He’s also eager to find him and a make a new home. With his uncle forced out of business and failing health, the two decide to go to America.

The ship-ride over is harrowing. When the boat finally docks in New York, Shan is alone. He meets an Italian-American family returning from a protracted visit to Italy. The family adopts you Shan and he grows up as any young Italian-American boy would. The story follows Shan-now-Tommy over the next twenty years. Tommy and his new family become close. In an effort to help his brother Nick , when they are both adults, Tommy ends up convicted of murder and is transferred to Alcatraz.

I was disappointed that two-thirds of the story took place in New York. I was really looking forward to reading about Alcatraz during its heyday and feeling the cold Bay breeze gently brush against my cheeks as I immersed myself in the tale.

I enjoyed the story a lot; it was a quick and easy read, not one that I found easy to put down once I started.  But my disappointment in the story’s locale forces me to give it 4 out of 5 stars.

A Table by the Window

A Table by the Window by Hillary Manton Lodge   320 Pages

I got tired of waiting for this novel from the St. Louis Public Library, so I read Book 2 in the “Two Blue Doors” trilogy, Reservations for Two a while back. I had a love/hate relationship with that one.  I posted reviews for it, so you can go peek at my thought, if you so desire.

Still I was interested in reading Book 1 so I could get the backstory.  Basically it’s the story of Juliette and Neil’s long-distance romance. All the other plot points from Book 2 are here: The passing of Juliette’s beloved grandmother, her mother’s cancer diagnosis, the introduction of Juliette’s family members, and the restaurant world/food writing world that Juliette loves. 

It becomes clear the how and why of Juliette learning that the man she called Grandfather may not be her biological ancestor. Still, I think I’m going to have to wait for Book 3 (Coming May 2016, according to the end of Book 2) to have this issue resolved.

I’m glad I read Book 2 first. Maybe because A Table by the Window didn’t pull me in as much. However, I was familiar with the characters, the plot, and the writing style so that may have had something to do with it. 

I give A Table by the Window  3 out of 5 stars.