Finished January 14Three generations of Swedish women and the men they loved. Or did they love them?
This is a book that was read before I joined the Book Babes Book Club. So, I am reading all the books I missed over the last 11 1/2 years. I had heard from the original members that it wasn't good. So I was prepared not to like it, but I did. Some of the writing is exquisite: "These roamings over the years taught me a great deal about the sea, what it sounds like and how it smells in storms or calm, in dull weather, sun or mist. But I know nothing of its intentions, anyhow nothing I can put into words, though occasionally I think it is all-embracing like the presence of God."
It was slow going, but I decided this day to sit down and really savor and read it and loved its poignancy. Hanna, Johanna, and Anna. Johanna was born at the same time as my grandmother in the same area of Sweden too. It has special meaning as I realized I finished reading it on what would have been my dear Swedish mother's 85th birthday.
As I read on the couch and realized it was my mom's birthday, I also looked straight into the Carl Larsson (famous Swedish painter) painting of his daughter reading. Reading is such a spiritual experience for me sometimes.
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