Light on Snow

by Anita Shreve

Book Overview

What makes a family? That's what twelve-year-old Nicky Dillon wonders after she and her widowed father discover a wailing abandoned baby in the snow-filled woods near their New Hampshire home. Through the days that follow, the Dillons and an unexpected visitor who soon turns up at their door-a young woman evidently haunted by her own terrible choices-face a thicket of decisions, each seeming to carry equal possibilities of heartbreak and redemption...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0316010677
• ISBN13: 9780316010672
• Release Date: September 2005
• Publisher: Back Bay Books
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.6" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

A Story Of Basic Human Vulnerability

No complex plot line or multiple characters. Story of human nature, instinct and life experience. Chapters unfold to reveal the journey in which readers will take. An easy and enjoyable read told in first person by a mature twelve year old. I personally felt the heartwarming insights were more reflective of an older young woman. Somewhat disappointed with the storyline plateau and ending.

Amazing Read!

This is the first time I have felt the need to write a review on a book. The moment I started reading this book I felt a connection to the characters and could not stop reading. This book had me laugh, cry and feel happy. I will recommend this book to all of my friends for a book reading session just so I can read it again!!!!!

A WELL TOLD STORY

Again, as with most of this author's works, we have a very well told story. Ms. Shreve in indeed a natural story teller..a teller of quite beleaveable tales. I this work we have very strong character deveopement and all kinds of thoughtful plumbs to ponder. This is certainly not one of those "happy" stories which seem to fill our shelves in all the book stores, nor it it one of those which leave us completely without hope. Thoughtful, sensitive and well done. Recommend you add this one to your reading list.

A book for those who appreciate FINE writing

I think several of these reviews are too harsh and feel the word "disappointment" is overused and inappropriate. No matter how many novels an author has produced for our reading pleasure, when it comes to reviews, I believe work should be judged on its own merit. That said, I believe this fine author tells a sad and simple story. Light on Snow is exactly that: A simple story about simple people in a complicated situation. It's told through the reflective and wise first-person voice of a woman looking back on something extraordinary that happened to her when she was twelve-years old, and from start to finish, I was engrossed with not only the story, but the character study. This story could be about any of our neighbors. These characters are not uncommon or bizarre, but very real and quite compelling. I couldn't help but wonder how I might respond to finding an abandoned baby or how I would feel if my mother and baby sister were recently killed in an automobile accident and I was left behind, broken and lost. Shreve's storytelling evokes empathy and is truly artistic. Overall, I feel the writing is concise, flows well and paints beautiful scenery of a cold and icy New Hampshire winter. It reads very quickly and is a worthy effort. Also recommend: "I Capture The Castle," by Dodie Smith. From the author of I'm Living Your Dream Life and The Things I Wish I'd Said, McKenna Publishing Group.

Light On Snow Draws You In

I had read Anita Shreve's book The Pilot's Wife and could not put that book down, but this book is heads and tails above that. I read this book in one weekend, quite a task for a 300 odd page book. This book draws you in from page one and you just keep reading to see what happens next. You are drawn in to a point where you can picture yourself sitting outside of this family's home watching all these things happen. An excellent, quick and thoroughly enjoyable read. I won't bother with what the book is about as the other reviewers have filled those blanks in for the readers interested. All I can say is I was reading and before I realized it I was half way through the book. Then started reading again for "just a few pages" and was finished with the book. Shreve at her best.

A perfect winter read

Light On Snow tells the story of Nicky, a twelve year old girl, and her father Robert taking a walk in the snow one winter day only to find an abandoned baby freezing and wrapped in a bloody towel and sleeping bag. They immediately rush home to warm the baby and then take her to the hospital where she can be properly cared for. While there, the police question Robert about the incident but he is released. Days later as a snow storm is approaching, the mother of the baby comes to their home under the false pretense of looking for furniture, which Roberts makes in his barn. She eventually admits the truth about who she is, but by then it is too late for her to leave and Robert must make the decision of whether or not to turn her in to the authorities. He does not want anything to do with her but as they are faced with time alone, she tells him her side of story and his thoughts and feelings about her begin to change. Light On Snow is a very haunting story about the decisions we make and what consequences those decisions make on us, and others. The writing is simple to read for being such a complex story. This is the perfect book to curl up and read on a cold winters day.