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Sycamore Circle–rebuilding a life
Sycamore Circle
by Shelley Shepard Gray
Madisonville is a prison in the novel Sycamore Circle. Lincoln was formerly incarcerated there, as were the men who work under him in the organization called T-DOT (Tomorrow Depends on Today). The group tries to rehabilitate former inmates, giving them practical skills by restoring houses and flipping them. They also learn self-discipline and how to survive in the outside world. Lincoln has earned the respect of law enforcement, probation officers, and prison officials. The program is voluntary, but the men who sign up agree to certain rules and will be kicked out of the program if they don’t abide by them.
Bo is Lincoln’s friend and his right hand man at T-DOT. He spent three years incarcerated as a felon, but has turned his life around. He is attracted to Joy, a literary tutor he met in a coffee shop, but he realizes that she is a special lady and he doesn’t know how to approach her. Joy has been divorced for 4 years from Tony, a man who constantly put her down. He had an affair and wanted to move on. Despite being a terrible and stingy ex-husband, he is a good father to their 16 year old daughter Chloe.
Joy and Bo are moving extremely slowly into a friendship when Joy starts receiving calls, texts, and letters from a stalker. Bo realizes how serious this could be and turns on his protection mode.
This story is well-written with likable characters, understandable relationship hesitations, and a lot of suspects for who the stalker might be. There is a subplot of an abused teenage boy who is trying to decide on a commitment to the Amish way. I was fortunate to read this on a day I could devote a lot of time to it as I wanted to keep reading until the end to find out who the stalker really is and what the future holds for Joy, Bo, and Chloe.
Trust is one of the themes of this series. It is a problem the former inmates and the people they come in contact with both have. Can someone who has done hard time in prison be trusted again? Even family members can have difficulty trusting their love ones, questioning if the changes are real. If they can’t be integrated into society again and find meaningful, financially sufficient employment, how can they survive without breaking the law again? Although this theme is not stated directly, it is the undercurrent of the series.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Christian, Mystery and Thriller, Romance
Notes: 1. #2 in the Rumors in Ross County series, but could be a standalone.
2.I found that the stalker element leaned this mystery slightly into the thriller category.
Publication: February 7, 2023—Blackstone Publishing
Memorable Lines:
…he realized that he was going to need to be real patient if he wanted a chance with Joy—and that he was going to have to bring his A game too. She was not the kind of woman to accept a date on the fly or put up with him being anything but respectful and kind. I had been noted.
But he wasn’t worried about the Lord being upset with him. He’d started talking to God on his own years ago. Though it wasn’t something that he was comfortable sharing, he was pretty sure the Lord was still going to have his back whether he was Amish or not.
She treated him to a fake smile too. The kind women gave to security guards and annoying salespeople. Like she was glad for his place in her world, but she didn’t want them to connect on a regular basis.
Sandcastle Hurricane–joy from a hurricane
Sandcastle Hurricane
by Carolyn Brown
Two adult cousins, Tabby and Ellie Mae, with dysfunctional family backgrounds are reunited when their Aunt Charlotte decides to retire from the B&B she owns in the little beach town of Sandcastle, TX. Although she has moved away from hurricane country to snow country, she is a constant source of encouragement and advice to her nieces through phone calls and statements sprinkled throughout the book as the cousins can almost hear her talking.
Tabby and Ellie Mae have only been at the B&B for a few weeks when they find themselves boarding up windows in response to warnings of Hurricane Delilah. Aunt Charlotte arranges for her friend Alex to help them as he always helped her and for the trio to take in four residents from an assisted living center who have no family.
The story is very character driven as we learn the backgrounds of all of them and how life’s events have affected them. Tabby and Ellie Mae are both battling grief. Neither has a positive relationship with their families for good reason. The four elderly characters are a study in contrasts. The author shows how it is possible to change, grow, and stand up to overwhelming problems. Although humor is not a mainstay of this book, there are amusing situations and dialogue that lighten the tone of some serious issues and confrontations.
There are romantic scenarios for Tabby and Ellie Mae. The events at the end of the book lead to good things for the characters even though they would not have planned the turns that happen in their journey. Sandcastle Hurricane is about people struggling to do their best, misunderstandings, and family. It deals with the problems that can accompany mixed race marriages and their offspring as well as the joys of color-blind friendships.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 4/5
Category: General Fiction, Romance
Notes: Contains about a dozen instances of mild swearing
Publication: November 8, 2022—Montlake
Memorable Lines:
Why can’t my dad and his brother get along like Homer and Frank? Ellie Mae bit back a sigh. Because they never had to go through tough times together. That builds character and teaches people to depend on each other, Aunt Charlotte whispered softly in her ear.
A woman who has lost her husband is called a widow. Children who lose their parents are orphans.. But there is no word for mothers who lose children, because the grief is too hard to put a name on it.
“We just have to believe what is happening now is for a good reason, and what brought us to this day has shaped us into the people we are.”
The Ways We Hide–“escapologist extraordinaire”
The Ways We Hide
by Kristina McMorris
Admittedly it is hard to write a “happy” book about World War II. The Ways We Hide is definitely not a cheerful book. While she avoids graphic descriptions of the violence of the war, author Kristina McMorris excels at conveying the overwhelming sadness of the personal tragedies, even those that occurred pre-war, early in the orphaned protagonist Fenna’s life. When she escapes from an orphanage in the U.S., she is taken in by her best friend Arie’s family despite their religious differences. The parents in both families are Dutch immigrants. As young adults they discover their romantic love for each other, but Fenna suddenly leaves her adoptive family without explanation.
Taking her love of magic to the stage, Fenna becomes a self-made illusionist in the style of Houdini. She is recruited by the British in World War II to devise gadgets and conceal them in support of Allied troops in Europe. The British ask her to go to Holland on a dangerous rescue mission to find Arie, but more more is involved than her handlers are telling her.
The story is well played out with unexpected twists around every corner. This work of historical fiction is well written and extremely well researched. I can’t say that it is a page turner for me because it is so sad. The characters have little hope for positive outcomes, but pursue their noble goals against all odds. The work is undercover, classified, and occurs in Nazi controlled areas. Therefore, it is hard to know who can be trusted.
The author explains at the end of the book her framework for inserting the fictional Fenna into the mostly historically accurate backdrop with some slippage of time. She has researched her subjects well which include not only the war efforts but also an anti-labor strike event that changed Fenna’s life forever.
The ending is not a happily ever after with the protagonists riding off into the sunset, but how could it be when so many people have died? Despite the reality of the situation, the author does manage to conjure up a “lemons into lemonade” scenario for Fenna that is satisfying and actually sweet. I am glad I read this book which reveals a lot about undercover work, dangers, and relationships in World War II.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Historical Fiction, Women’s Fiction
Notes: 1. There are author notes at the end which explain in detail how McMorris got her inspiration for the various parts of the book. It is followed by suggestions for further reading for those who would like to learn more about the topics in the book.
2. Online there is posted a Book Club Guide on the author’s website (kristinamcmorris.com). While I do recommend this book for book clubs, individual readers will also find this guide helpful in visualizing the setting and the culture. It includes Dutch inspired recipes plus a recipe for invisible ink (not the lemon juice type). There are questions designated as a Reading Group Guide. Perhaps most importantly to me, there are fifteen photographs that will transport the reader back in time. There are also QR codes for videos and other additional resources online. In addition, there are suggestions for group activities to enhance book club meetings.
Publication: September 6, 2022—Sourcebooks Landmark
Memorable Lines:
Traveling in clusters pallbearers carried pure-white caskets low at their sides. The dimensions of each befitted a child, the weight minuscule compared to the burden.
In this instant I consider a potential reason my life has been repeatedly spared. Could it be to attain justice for the victims of a cruel and callous enemy?
He offers his hand with a caring look. “May our paths cross again,” he says, “in a better world.” It’s impossible to envision any future beyond the immediate challenges ahead. Still, I accept his handshake, grateful for the notion.
The Library–love of reading
The Library
by Bella Osborne
Cross-generational stories hold a certain appeal that is present in Bella Osborne’s The Library. Built around characters who probably would never have met but for a library, this novel involves the reader in their lives. Tom, a lonely young man whose mother died when he was eight, intervenes when a hoodlum snatches Maggie’s purse. Maggie, a widow, lives alone on a small farm and longs for human contact. Both have issues that have isolated them from others: Tom’s father is an alcoholic, and Maggie has lost her son and husband.
There are so many interesting themes and threads woven into the bare bones scenario I have described. As the book progresses you learn to love Maggie, an intelligent, spunky lady with surprising talents and Tom, the object of her generosity of spirit, money, and time. Tom is trying to find his way through adolescence and is dealing simultaneously with poverty, a neglectful and grieving father who is edging toward abuse, a bully, a crush on a girl in his class, and studying for exams that will place him in A levels, the key to going to college. In the midst of all this drama, Tom has to convince his father that his future does not lie in a dog food factory. He and Maggie also have to keep their local library from closing.
I recommend this book for the style of narration, the gradual way the author reveals the inner workings of the characters, and the way she creates empathy in the reader. The events in the plot are well-crafted and the ending is satisfactory without being saccharine.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: General Fiction, Women’s Fiction
Notes: 1. There are a few uses of inappropriate language in American English and a lot of mild expletives in British English. Interestingly, Tom does try to catch himself and avoid swearing when talking to Maggie.
2. Contains lots of Britishisms.
Publication: September 2, 2021—Aria
Memorable Lines:
She’d sought peace at the library, and it had given her exactly that along with multiple worlds to hide herself in. She could disappear into a book and be gone from the harsh reality of the real world for hours.
He was lost in the no man’s land between the child he was and the man he so longed to be.
Maybe nobody was who they seemed. Apart from the animals. Rusty was beautiful inside and out; she was caring and loyal. Colin was literally the devil in sheep’s clothing. But you knew where you were with animals—they weren’t suddenly going to surprise you and tip your world upside down. They didn’t pretend to be something they weren’t and because of that they didn’t let you down. Unlike people who did it all the time.
Mulberry Hollow–obstacles to love
Mulberry Hollow
by Denise Hunter
Denise Hunter continues her Riverbend Romance Series with the Robinson family at the center of the stories. Mulberry Hollow focuses on Avery, the youngest child of three and the only daughter in the merged family. Avery is high achieving and operates her own medical clinic in the little town of Riverbend Gap that is an oasis of relief and comfort for weary hikers from the Appalachian Trail. Avery’s family handles her with kid gloves because she has a 50% chance of having a fatal, degenerative disease. She has resigned herself to a love life with the clinic and the community and rejects the possibility of having children.
One evening she finds Wes Garrett, dehydrated, with a high fever, on the clinic’s doorstep. He was formerly a worker in Columbia for Emergency Shelter International, but is currently a thru-hiker on the Appalachian Trail in honor of a deceased friend. Wes’ background was tough growing up, and as an adult he is saddled with paying off his father’s debts. Wes is a man of his word and a man of honor. While the handsome guy’s qualities are admirable, they also cause obstacles in any romantic relationship that might develop.
I loved this story and its characters. These are people that fight hard to do the right things putting others above themselves. It’s hard not to keep turning the pages in hopes that good things will happen for Avery and Wes. There are a lot of twists in the plot that will have you groaning at the unfairness of life, but the characters continue to trust in God and pray for others. The religious element is not dominant; instead it reflects the way these characters live out their lives through good times and bad and when the right choices are not the easy ones.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Romance
Notes: 1. Discussion questions are included.
2. This is #2 in the Riverbend Romance Series, a trilogy. It could be read as a standalone, but the characters continue from the first book, Riverbend Gap, so you would probably enjoy it more if you read them in order.
3. Clean romance.
Publication: April 19, 2022—Thomas Nelson Fiction
Memorable Lines:
“He was a hustler?” “He could’ve sold mosquitos to a backpacker—and he would’ve if he hadn’t been so lazy. Such as it was, he made do with home improvement scams.”
She took in the now-familiar angles and planes of his face. He was pretty to look at, no doubt, but he was even more attractive on the inside. A man who put aside his plans to help another was a man who could be counted on. A man who spent months on the trail to honor a friend was a man to be admired.
She considered all he’d been through. His difficult childhood, the loss of a dear friend. And yet he’d somehow flourished as a human being. Emerged from his trials a good and caring man. She was thankful God had brought him to Riverbend just when she’d needed him.
Pianos and Flowers–stories birthed from photos
Pianos and Flowers
by Alexander McCall Smith
It is not uncommon for teachers to present students with a photograph and ask them to write about it. The result is usually nonfiction and descriptive of what is seen in the picture. The Sunday Times asked Alexander McCall Smith, the Scottish writer famous for his No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series set in Botswana, to select photographs from their archives of everyday people in everyday settings. He then created short stories, one for each picture, which fictionalized what was happening to the people in the picture as well as their background. The result is a collection of unrelated stories that bring these people to life. Naturally some appealed to me more than others. “Sphinx” is a gentle romance set in the 1930’s. “Pianos and Flowers” is about Brits working and living in China and how it affected their families. “Architect” had interesting observations about family relationships and culminated in a surprise ending. “Urchins” contained sad stories about the plight of the pictured street urchins and what the future held for them. I smile as I recall “St. John’s Wort,” the story of a retired man who was worried about everything. A friend of the wife gave her some timely advice. As you can see, each story in Pianos and Flowers is unique. There was only one story of the fourteen that I actually noted as not liking.
I read these at the rate of one or two stories a night at bedtime. They were a nice way to end the day on a calm and gentle note.
I would like to extend my thanks to NetGalley and to Knopf Doubleday (Pantheon) for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Short Stories
Publication: January 19, 2021— Knopf Doubleday (Pantheon)
Notes: The subtitle is Brief Encounters of the Romantic Kind, but I found that to be a misnomer. The stories are fictionalized snippets of life so there is some romance, but not very much.
Memorable Lines:
Parents are inexplicably embarrassing to sixteen-year-olds—they always have been.
We belittle the things we secretly want ourselves.
“A metaphor must be strange—it must make us sit up and take notice in a way in which a literal expression does not.”
The Wind in the Willows–endearing children’s classic for all ages
The Wind in the Willows
by Kenneth Grahame
My book club decided to read The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, a children’s classic written in the early 1900’s by a British author. As a retired educator, I felt like this is one of those books I should have read. I downloaded a free copy from Project Gutenberg. It has some illustrations, but I found I would have liked more. The other readers in my group had various ways of reading this classic tale. One had a particularly beautifully illustrated version that I adore. Another friend listened to an audio version recorded on YouTube. At least one group member expressed disappointment that her version was an adaptation. Regardless of the version, however, we all enjoyed reading it.
The Wind in the Willows is a charming tale of a water rat, mole, badger, otter, and toad. With its exquisite language and intricate descriptions, this book is perfect for reading as a family. It was a staple in A.A. Milne’s family which I consider high praise indeed. The pace moves back and forth between quiet reflection and raucous adventure. The tale has themes of home, friendship and satisfaction. The characters move through life together with commonalities and differences that serve to make the story even more interesting.
Toad is a favorite character with moods ranging from manic to subdued and intentions to reform that often seem genuine, but sometimes are quite insincere. He has a passion for the latest and greatest “toys” and is always on the lookout for a new adventure. Fortunately, he has supportive friends who will do anything for him. He is a source of humor for the reader.
If you have never read The Wind in the Willows, I strongly recommend it, especially if you enjoy beautiful word pictures. I like researching unfamiliar words, but those who don’t will have no problems as the general meaning of words of a botanic nature, Britishisms, and words no longer in common usage are certainly easily understood from context. The Wind in the Willows is a great read, and I am so glad to have added it as part my literary heritage.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Children’s Fiction
Notes: Ages 7-14
Publication: 1908 & 1913—Charles Scribner’s Sons
Memorable Lines:
Toad talked big about all he was going to do in the days to come, while stars grew fuller and larger all around them, and a yellow moon, appearing suddenly and silently from nowhere in particular, came to keep them company and listen to their talk.
He increased his pace, and as the car devoured the street and leapt forth on the high road through the open country, he was only conscious that he was Toad once more, Toad at his best and highest, Toad the terror, the traffic-queller, the Lord of the lone trail, before whom all must give way or be smitten into nothingness and everlasting night.
Toad sat up slowly and dried his eyes. Secrets had an immense attraction for him, because he never could keep one, and he enjoyed the sort of unhallowed thrill he experienced when he went and told another animal, after having faithfully promised not to.
Death Comes for the Archbishop–New Mexico frontier
Death Comes for the Archbishop
by Willa Cather
Every well-read person should have read at least one book by Willa Cather, an American Pulitzer Prize winning author famous for her novels set in the frontier. When my book club decided recently to read Death Comes for the Archbishop, I had not read any of Cather’s books. I was delighted that the choice was one that focused on the history of the Catholic church in New Mexico where I currently live. The novel provides as a backdrop a tour of cities, towns, pueblos, and open deserts inhabited by foreign priests, Mexicans, and Indians. Cather paints beautiful word pictures of the landscapes while depicting the difficulties of life, and especially travel, as two French priests attempt to revive the Catholic religion in the region. Churches had been planted over three hundred years earlier but did not receive much attention from Rome. With the annexation of new territories by the U.S., things begin to change in a land viewed as “wild” for many reasons. It is ruled over by the Bishop of Durango located in Mexico, fifteen hundred miles away from Santa Fe where the missionaries headquartered.
Jean Marie Latour, a parish priest based in the Lake Ontario region is elevated to bishop arriving in New Mexico in 1851 after a difficult and dangerous year long journey. He is accompanied by his childhood friend Father Joseph Valliant. Despite its title, Death Comes for the Archbishop is not a murder mystery nor does it focus on the death of the Archbishop. Instead, it is a triumphant tale of strong, wise, and intelligent men who against all odds form friendships with peoples of various tribes, cultures, and languages in a harsh but beautiful land. The descriptive language is exquisite and serves to enhance and further the plot. This book celebrates the usually successful struggles for survival and the somewhat successful attempts to share the Catholic religion. In the Archbishop’s passing, it becomes evident that he was much loved and respected by the peoples of the many cultures in his diocese.
Death Comes for the Archbishop is a tale I would enjoy rereading for the breadth of its descriptions and the depth of its topics. The two Fathers were men I would enjoy meeting. Quite unalike physically and in disposition, they were fast and loyal friends with different means of evangelism, but suitable to their characters. Although this book has a specific setting in terms of time period and location and has characters with a religious profession, its themes of devotion, strength, and friendship transcend the New Mexico frontier of the 1850’s and the Catholic priesthood. Although the specifics were interesting and an effective vessel for the themes, the novel proves Cather to be, above all, an able storyteller. I had no regrets in reading this work of historical fiction based on the lives of two missionaries, and I highly recommend it.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Historical Fiction
Publication: June 15, 1927—Reading Essentials
Memorable Lines:
Everything showed him to be a man of gentle birth—brave, sensitive, courteous. His manners, even when he was alone in the desert, were distinguished. He had a kind of courtesy toward himself, toward his beasts, toward the juniper tree, before which he knelt, and the God whom he was addressing.
There was a reassuring solidity and depth about those walls, rounded at doorsills and windowsills, rounded in wide wings about the corner fireplace. The interior had been newly whitewashed in the Bishop’s absence, and the flicker of the fire threw a rosy glow over the wavy surfaces, never quite evenly flat, never a dead white, for the ruddy colour of the clay underneath gave a warm tone to the lime-wash.
This mesa plain had an appearance of great antiquity, of incompleteness; as if, with all the materials for world-making assembled, the Creator had desisted, gone away and left everything on the point of being brought together, on the eve of being arranged into mountain, plain, plateau.
Montana Wishes–romance in Montana
Montana Wishes
by Amy Vastine
Along comes another romance as the Harrison girls get slowly pulled back to their biological Blackwell roots and their Montana cowboy origins. In the first of the Blackwell Sisters series, Lily Harrison is a runaway bride who finds herself, a new vocational passion, and a handsome cowboy fiancée in Falcon Creek, Montana.
In Montana Wishes, the second book in the series, Lilly sends for her identical twin sister Amanda to help her plan a second wedding as well as move all her belongings to Montana. Amanda enlists her best friend Blake to help her make the drive. The timing could not be worse as Blake has just proposed to Nadia whom he has dated for only two months. Amanda is grieving the loss of her best friend, reeling from the impact of a medical decision, and angry about the intrusion into her life of a grandfather and a set of cousins she didn’t know she had. But, being Amanda, she steps up to the plate and tries to make everything right for everyone else.
I like this book and its characters. Just as I thought the romantic situation was going to get stagnant, the author of Montana Wishes, Amy Vastine, would throw in a twist or surprise that moved the plot forward and kept me turning pages. As we watch the interactions of Blake, Amanda, and Nadia, theoretical questions about love and friendship take on a personal meaning.
Can men and women be best friends?
Should you marry your best friend?
Should your spouse be your best friend?
There is also a question of the importance of fertility in a relationship. Although it is handled well, that issue may be an unintentional trigger for some readers. All in all, it is a fun read that segues into the third book in the series, Montana Dreams.
I would like to extend my thanks to Amy Vastine and to Harlequin Heartwarming for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Romance
Notes: 1. #2 in the Blackwell Sisters series, but could be read as a standalone as the author provides plenty of background information to bring the reader up to speed.
2. Clean and heartwarming romance
Publication: September 8, 2020—Harlequin Heartwarming
Memorable Lines:
(Song lyrics): In the distance he sees what he never saw. Laughter ringing like wind chimes in a summer storm. Across rocky tipped horizons and cloudless skies. And just like that he knows…the sounds of home.
The worst thing in the world was disappointing Amanda. She was just so good. To the core. She did everything she could to do no harm, put others’ needs above her own and brighten the world around her. People like her were rare. When you were someone she loved, you wanted to be good, too.
“Just because we have a tiny bit of the same blood in our veins does not make us family. Family is the people you’ve created memories with, the people who have cared for you and let you care for them. It’s the people who are there for you when you need them…”
The One Saving Grace–love or lust?
The One Saving Grace
by Julie Houston
As I went through each one of three books I chose to read as an introduction to author Julie Houston, I watched her develop as a writer. Her plots have become more complex, her characters have more depth, and she has found a balance that uses less vulgar language.
The One Saving Grace is the second book about Harriet and her long-time friend Grace. They did everything together as children, adored and hated “Little Miss Goodness” Amanda in unison as teenagers, and now they find themselves torqued around as adults by Amanda again. But Amanda is the least of their worries as the past becomes enmeshed in the future with unpredictable romances popping up and Harriet’s husband’s ex-girlfriend lurking the the background with revenge on her mind.
In the first book about Harriet and Grace, Harriet is confronted with an unplanned pregnancy she can not cope with on many levels. In this book, her moral dilemma is an affair. As I read the book, the author led me to somewhat understand Harriet’s temptation. As I stand back, book finished, and look at her predicament, however, I have a hard time reconciling the Harriet who was devastated by the suspicion of her husband having an affair with the the Harriet who is willing to lose her family to temporarily satisfy her carnal desires. Sex is a major theme in the book, but is never described in detail.
The best part of The One Saving Grace is the surprises that reveal motivation and the resolution of conflicts. The theme of postnatal depression is also important in this book and one not to be overlooked as it affects not only Grace, who desperately wanted a baby, but also her family and friends.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Aria for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: General Fiction (Adult), Romance
Notes: This is the second book about Harriet and Grace, but works great as a standalone as Houston inserts background information as needed.
Publication: February 19, 2019—Aria
Memorable Lines:
I actually felt a bit miffed that someone else was after Mrs. Doubtfire…like when you were a teenager, you might not fancy that spotty, tongue tied guy with the bum fluff on his top lip who’s been drooling over you for months, but you certainly don’t want him going off with anyone else.
I’d make my way up to the gym machines to face Tina Trainer, who had obviously taken her instructions at the same place Dante got his inspiration for the Inferno.
Envy I’d always reckoned to be the most corrosive of all emotions, eating into one’s soul like a particularly pernicious acid….Envy is a mere novice, a total non-starter compared to her grown-up sister, Guilt.
education pathways 