Escaping the past...especially if your past involves a high profile political scandal...is not easy. Ask Jane Young, the small town wedding planner who is rearing her daughter as a single mother. This novel is endearing as it explores the long term consequences of a youthful mistake on a young woman, her mother and her daughter. Ms. Zevin has a gift for writing characters who are likeable in spite of or because of the emotional baggage they carry.

A wonderful story set in a very specific area of San Francisco on one day in 1897. The narrative holds your interest, the characters frustrate and delight, and the prose is elegant. Who would think that basing one of the novel's themes on a municipal action to move city cemeteries to new locations would elicit such a beautiful and often heart wrenching tale? Stacey Pelletier did and does so with great finesse.