Blog Tour: Limelight

Melody Carlson's book Limelight tells the story of what happens when one old woman finds that she has no choice but to go home again. Claudette Fiore escaped her small town life of poverty by trading on her good looks and drive. Widowed, penniless and in her 80s, she finds that she has no option but to take what little she still has and regroup in the home where she grew up that was left to her when her mother died. It's not just going back to a dinky little town, but going back to face the ones she left behind. But Claudette finds more than the scorn and barely concealed gloating at her expense that she expects.

As is typical with Carlson, the characters in this book seem amazingly real. In fact, I never did get to a point where I actually liked Claudette...but I could at least tolerate her by the last page. There are several twists to the plot that add depth and turn what could be a fairy tale ending into something more real and poignant.

My only real complaint is that this doesn't have to be Christian literature. If you substituted a "higher power" or "believe in you" or "power of positive thinking" in every time someone mentions God, the story wouldn't change - and that to me is a missed opportunity. And while Claudette comes closer to finding salvation through the story, she's left in the twilight of her days still searching. Certainly there's a hint that perhaps resolution is coming, but there's not a feeling of certainty by any means. While this may be more realistic, it was a bit of a downer for an otherwise delightful end.

You can find more information here.

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.