Rating: 
Summary: Best of Susan Isaacs
Review: Susan Isaacs is a constant surprise. No two of her books are alike, all her characters truly have character, they are individuals and the stories in which we come to love them are distinct and never formulaic. No book demonstrates this more than "Shining Through." The main character, Linda Voss, has depth, substance, frailties, flaws, and she captured my imagination. From an office crush to a tour of spying in Nazi Germany, Linda is a revelation. Please read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Romance, and Spy Novel
Review: The life of Legal Secretary Extraordinaire during WWII is seen through the eyes of Linda Voss. Her story is told with warm and witty humor, she becomes a pal you would invite to lunch. Made into a good film in the mid-90's with Michael Douglas and Melanie Griffith it did not caputre all the humor of the novel, but the romance and wartime tension are definitley there. So, relax in a hot tub and enjoy this lovely book!
Rating:
Summary: Were I to be stranded on a desert island . . .
Review: Were I to be stranded on a desert island with only three books to sustain me . . . Susan Isaacs' "Shining Through" would definitely be one of those books! Come to think of it, were I to be stranded with only one person for companionship, Linda Voss -- Isaacs' heroine -- would be my top choice. (A pity she exists only in the pages of "Shining Through" . . . or does she?) A simple (oh, yeah?) Bronx secretary in a 1940 topnotch Manhattan lawfirm presumes to aspire "far beyond her station," as the old saying goes. More than that, she dares to THINK. And, when war comes, her sense of moral outrage (as well as the pull of her family roots) impels her to act. That's the bare-bones synopsis of "Shining Through," which is at once a brilliantly-executed depiction of time and place as well as a totally satisfying celebration of the heroism which, hopefully, lies dormant and subject to call in most people even today. Wise-cracking and irreverent, wryly self-deprecating in her rejection of self-pity, Linda Voss is alternately vulnerable and nail-hard tough, when needs be, as the world's events unfold and lead her to her destiny. And that ultimate destiny -- at least to the point with which the book concludes -- is one which should make the reader shout, "Hooray!" (I always do, anyway, at the end of each rereading.) Author Susan Isaacs is regarded, for the most part, as a "woman's writer." This is a pity, and -- especially in the case of "Shining Through" -- a loss to male readers. Guys, a lot of us are missing something here!
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