Hope and herons
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We all make mistakes in our lives. Every one of us. Sometimes those mistakes destroy us, but, if we're smart enough to learn from them, they can make us better, more honest persons. In terms of mis-steps, the characters in Alice Hoffman's three inter-related novellas make some whoppers. Some of these characters are destroyed, but most most manage to go on, trying to figure out how and why they went wrong, trying to make something worthwhile of their lives, and learning along the way some important things about forgiveness and understanding.
Reading Hoffman's tale of love gone terribly wrong, of lives redeemed, is a rare pleasure. Her evocations of life during three different eras in London are spot on, her characters genuine. In places, her descriptions approach the poetic, beautiful and telling in their simplicity: "She didn't find any clues in all her searching, although she did discover that the single splash of color in the closet was a sheer pink blouse, a birthday present sent by Maddy last fall from Barneys. She couldn't help but notice that the store's tag was still attached." This one brief passage reveals much about the sisters, their personalities, their relationship. Images from the book linger after the final page has been turned: the purple jacket Frieda won on a bet, the hotel rabbit whose favorite nibble is wallpaper, the mossy lion statue at the hotel around which the stories revolve. There is a bona fide ghost, one of pain, loss, and regret, and then there's that eponymous third angel, who represents what? Possibility? Kindness? Empathy? You'll have to read the book to find the answer, for yourself, to this question.
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