Synopsis:

During the Depression Larry and Sally Morgan meet Sid and Charity Lang while employed as teachers at a university. The two couples become immediate, lifelong friends and this book takes them through the ups and downs of their friendship and personal struggles.

Review:

This book reads like what a college grad should sound like…educated. I should have been reading this book with a dictionary in hand. I missed out on a LOT of imagery because I didn’t recognize many of the words. I have since purchased a pocket dictionary that I keep tucked in my diaper bag that I use often.

My initial impression of this book was that the ending let me down. I was expecting everything to be handed to me all wrapped up like a fabulous gift.  What I got was more questions and not the good questions like “How may I apply this to my life and learning?”. No the questions I asked were “What?” and “What happens next” and “What does Crossing to Safety mean?” Yeah this was one of those books. I didn’t put enough into it to get much out of it.

Don’t get me wrong now, the story was great, the characters lovable and I did in fact learn something (just not what the author probably intended) I learned that when I read I identify with the character I want to be like not the character I actually am. I was half way through this book when I realized that my distaste for the character “Charity” was really distaste for certain aspects of myself…ouchy! I like to think of myself as the one who can stay calm in the midst of a storm, what I realized is that in most cases I am the storm. There would be no need for a calm if it weren’t for me. Oh it’s humorous really, but in order to really learn something from the books I’m reading I have to recognize my weaknesses and correct them. Maybe someday I’ll be the hero but for now I’ve just got to learn from them.

I give this book 2 ½-stars.