I started to read this book as I have enjoyed all of Eileen Goudge's books. However, it seemed familiar to me. I believe I read this several years ago. I wouldn't have requested it if I had known it was not a new publication.

This is a multi-generational story with two timelines. It is easy to follow the two time periods and see how the story fits together, even though the characters themselves never know.

Alice Kessler is a strong woman who is dealing with one of the worst things that can happen to a mother. She sees her young son hit and killed by a drunk driver while he is riding his bike. She then witnesses the driver get off without even a slap on the wrist. Of course the fact that he is wealthy and one of the pillars of the community help with that. As she is leaving the trial, she sees the driver walking with his wife and loses control, running him down and injuring him so that he ends up in a wheelchair. She ends up in prison for nine years.

Nine years later, Alice is released from prison and heads home to Grays Island, Washington. To some she is a pariah, others try to help her. It is not easy and her son wants nothing to do with her. The story is about family, forgiveness, making things right and power. There is alcohol addiction discussed, rape, peer pressure and making the right decisions. Colin McGuinty has come to the island after the death of his grandfather, an artist. He is trying to make a new life for himself and is actually in the same boat as Alice to some degree. The second story line takes place in the 1940s. It is the story of Alice's grandmother, Eleanor and Colin's grandfather. Again, a strong woman trying to do right by her daughter, Lucy, while her husband is off fighting in the war.

This story has wonderful characters. There stories are real and are shared with the reader that you get to know them well. The setting of a small town on a small Island shows how people take sides, and power coupled with money runs the town. I really enjoyed both story lines as well as the unexpected twists that this family takes. I enjoyed Eileen Goudge's writing style. She was very descriptive and the text flowed very nicely. I am so glad I finally read this book.