Book Reviews

Sweeping Up Glass by Carolyn Wall is a richly told tale. We meet the narrator/main character, Olivia, when she's a woman in her forties. She's a woman who has lived and is living a hard life. She backtracks and tells the reader how she got where she is and then the story continues in present tense.

For the most part, all of Walls characters are three dimensional. Olivia is a very likable character. It's easy to sympathize with her even though, at times, I felt that she was doing the wrong thing or being too stubborn. We see all the characters through Olivia's eyes. The depth of what we learn about them is proportional to her acquaintance and association with them. Because of this, the antagonists at times seemed to do things for no reason. We learn with Olivia, however.

There are some mysteries in the story. We want to know who is shooting the wolves and why. Olivia's pap is buried by the outhouse and we want to understand why and how that happened. There are other mysteries, all woven deftly through the story. The end has an unexpected twist, and yet, it is logical and not out of place in the story. I thought the romance was a bit too contrived at the end, but just a little. It was not totally out of the realm of possibility.

It could have been depressing, Olivia's life has been quite difficult, but Wall makes the tale real, neither overwhelming us with the negative turns life can take, nor making it a fairy tale that ends with an unrealistic 'happily ever after.'

Over all, this was a wonderful book. I was totally absorbed as I read. I would recommend this to anyone.