I’ve been drowning in a sea of Alice Hoffman over the past few weeks. Many books, but there are similar strands: love at first sight, ghosts, people who are stuck in tragedy, terminal illness, drug addiction, hope and loss. I like the way in which which she weaves the ethereal into the every day and the way in which she balances the fantastic with a very modern, sometimes harsh reality. For all that is someone who can wish her true love into being, there is another who has found contentment with what life has offered. She portrays men as soulful, vulnerable beings and that, I think, is not seen very often. They are small worlds, most often in contained parts of America. But there are stars and yearning and the feeling that you can touch for a moment the essence of life.
If I read much more I will float away. Perhaps forever.