The author, like the main character, Grace, experienced immigrating to the US from Trinidad and working as a nanny, which she calls a "baby sitter". Grace finds employment, but it seems to be a hopeless, go nowhere situation, with no chance of saving enough money to better herself and almost a slave to an unfeeling, power hungry employer. The book touched on the problems of getting a green card, disappointment in what immigrants find in America and homesickness for their homeland while trying to make the U.S. their new home. Not an exciting plot, but interesting enough to keep reading until the end. Anyone who feels discouraged about their own set of circumstances will feel a little luckier about their life after reading what these people go through.

The first part of this book (about 130 pages) is about the courtship and first years of marriage of Hemingway and his first wife, before he became a known writer, and I found it kind of boring. Then I got to part where she takes all of his original manuscripts with her on a trip to meet him somewhere in Europe, then finds the valise, in which she has placed the sum total of his writing to that point, is missing. It is such a shocking moment that it jolted my interest to keep reading just to find out if she finds it. This book gives a behind the scenes view of Hemingway's life while he was writing some of his early books, and the reality was surprisingly close to the fictional books. It made me want to read his books that I missed and re-read the ones I read so long ago. I would recommend this book to Hemingway lovers.

This book is for people who like to read textbook type data about climate change and waves, with some awesome stories about surfers who are addicted to fear and their search for the next humongous wave. Not as engaging as "The Perfect Storm", but there is plenty to fear and be depressed about with the dire climate change predictions and huge waves growing larger, especially if you live near a coastline..anywhere.

I couldn't put this one down. I didn't particularly like the characters or feel like I knew them very well, but the story the author tells is captivating. As the Contessa goes blind, her imagination becomes as important as real life as she envisions her surroundings and imagines herself and her forbidden lover in distant settings when they meet. There is suspense and mystery, and the story didn't end the way I expected it to. Book clubs will love discussing why the characters do what they do. This should appeal to readers of romantic books who don't like to figure out the ending before they get halfway through the story.