( 5 reviews )
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( 2 of 3 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jul 8 2004
A wonderful story. I don't like to give away how stories are told but I have to say I wasn't expecting what happened in this book. I am amazed at how much I loved these characters. This is one of those books you don't want to end. This was my first book by Leclaire and it will not be my last. She is a wonderful heartfelt writer that makes me excited to find her books.
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( 2 of 4 found this review helpful ) Posted: Mar 28 2003
i have recommended this book to all the avid readers i know. it is flawlessly plotted, beautifully written, and hard to put down. what more can you ask?
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( 14 of 16 found this review helpful ) Posted: Mar 9 2003
Entering Normal by Anne D. Leclaire is one of those books that finds you reading late into the night and asking for more. As I was about to finish this book, I was sorry I couldn't be reading it for the first time. I was so sorry to see the pages almost turning themselves for a book which turned out to be a very memorable read.Opal is the 20 year old unmarried mother of a five year old son named Zack. Refusing to live with her critical and overbearing mother any longer, Rose rolls dice from a Monopoly game and decides to fill up her car according to the number which appears. Wherever her car runs out of gas is where she is plannign on staying. And soon enough she finds herself and Zack entering Normal, Mass. Moving next door to Rose and Ned, Opal settles into hometown life spending time with her sonand making dolls for a toy store in town. Rose on the other hand isn't doing much of anything. Shrouded in grief from a tragic death five years before, Rose's feels as though she has little in her life to look forward to and ignores Opal and Zack. But when Opal needs Rose's help, Rose manages to set aside her grief. How these two women help each other to be there when life turns on a dime for them is the focus of this book which I really enjoyed. The book packs many an emotional punch and shows readers how friends can and do become family. Rose and Opal are two wonderful characters who I miss already and will never forget. Similar to themes explored both by Jacquelyn Mitchard and Alice Hoffman, Anne D. Leclaire is a new to me author but one whom I plan on reading in the future.
