Rent The Night Journal

This is a wonderful book for all the reasons given by other reviewers: the four women from different generations are real, they keep us in suspense to the last page, and we care about their interrelated lives. Moreover, the transition from turn-of-the century to today is handled effectively through the use of the greatgrandmother's journals. We have to marvel at the author's command of her material. Can the journals that form the centerpiece of the book be fiction, we wonder they are so real. I love big old-fashioned novels crammed with information and minutae and I loved this one. It is original and memorable, both rare qualities. But--you knew there was a 'but' coming--it contains much extraneous detail that, at times, distracts from the plot. If you read every word of adult granddaughter Meg's instructions to staff during a water emergency that affects her business, I congratulate you but Meg could have been given credibility with half the words. We not only know where characters go but where they park, what toothpaste they use, and alas, every time the great-grandmother with tuberculosis spits in her cup. It would have been a stronger book if the author had not told us everything she knew.