Rating: 
Summary: Compelling tale of the agony of the sandwich generation
Review: This story about birth and death is lyrical and replete with sensory detail. I found the visit to the toy store to be a particularly effective use of graphic nuances that made the reader actually join her on the trips down the aisles. The reader feels the real constraint of time that is the plaque of any one who faces the problems of the sandwich generation today. The author makes the reader empathic about the compelling pulls of the protagonist by husband, mother, step-children and baby.Parts of the book seem disjointed as when the main character, Kate, trips down memory lane. I am not sure that these scenes added much meat to the story. They did provide more insight into the character yet I would rather have had more details about the emotional stresses she was undergoing as she sought to fulfill all her demanding roles. The only part that was particularly weak was the final death scene. I felt cheated that there was not a clear sense of the finality. This is the reason for my evaluation of four stars. Had the final scene been more dramatic, the book would surely be a five star. I'm now ready to read other books by this author who clearly has the gifted talent necessary to make characters come alive.
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