Trudy’s Comments (group member since Jul 16, 2016)

Trudy’s comments from the BLBC group.

I would be up for that - let me know if you want to do this. I could start Nominations threads.

I would be up for doing this again if anyone else is.

I have been enjoying the book also. I actually finished the Audio book tonight. I like the reader and how she keeps the accents straight. It helps me to remember who is talking at the time.

Thanks for posting the schedule. It's a bit different listening to a book for this thread but we'll see how it turns out.


Annie wrote: "The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter
by Hazel Gaynor

Wed, May 1 - Prologue-Ch 1, pp 1-12 (12)
Thur, May 2 - Ch 2-3, pp 13-27 (15)
Fri, May 3 - Ch 4-6, pp 28-42 (15)
Sat, May 4 - Ch 7-8, pp 43-51 (9)
S..."

May;s book is,: The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter by Hazel Gaynor

I have the book on Audio so it is difficult to create a schedule. If anyone else has the book and can create the schedule, that would be great. Otherwise, we can "wing it" as far as schedule is concerned.

No one else voted for May's book and I found that I can't find the We'll Always Have Paris book anywhere so I was thinking that we should ready The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter by Hazel Gaynor instead if that is OK with everyone.

So what did people think of this book? I enjoyed it. I thought it was strange that Sophie died all of a sudden but I am glad that Lena and Daniel got together. I never really liked Jake. Not sure I like the way the book ended with Rachel's on Jake's door step but I like that they finally got together and I understand Lena reluctance in telling Rachel about Jake. I wish she could have met Sophie also.

The Dream Daughter
by Diane Chamberlain (Goodreads Author)
4.26 · stars 374pgs
From bestselling author Diane Chamberlain comes an irresistible new novel.

When Caroline Sears receives the news that her unborn baby girl has a heart defect, she is devastated. It is 1970 and there seems to be little that can be done. But her brother-in-law, a physicist, tells her that perhaps there is. Hunter appeared in their lives just a few years before—and his appearance was as mysterious as his past. With no family, no friends, and a background shrouded in secrets, Hunter embraced the Sears family and never looked back.

Now, Hunter is telling her that something can be done about her baby's heart. Something that will shatter every preconceived notion that Caroline has. Something that will require a kind of strength and courage that Caroline never knew existed. Something that will mean a mind-bending leap of faith on Caroline's part.

And all for the love of her unborn child.

A rich, genre-spanning, breathtaking novel about one mother's quest to save her child, unite her family, and believe in the unbelievable. Diane Chamberlain pushes the boundaries of faith and science to deliver a novel that you will never forget.

Tue 23-Apr Ch 34 P 271 - 280 10
Lena and Daniel went out to dinner. They talked about old times. He asked her if Jake was Rachel’s father and she confirmed it but also said that she had not contacted him or Sophie since she got back in town. They seem to hit it off pretty well. She told a little about Will and how she lost her business to him. He got elected to Congress.

Mon 22-Apr Pt 3 - Ch 30 - 33 P 257 - 270 14
Lena is divorced and living in New York working as a VP for Rothman Sims. She lost Lena K to her ex-husband. Rachel is preparing for her marriage to David Grossman. Joe has Lena going to the Jewel Ball as Arnie is sick. He wants Lena to start getting out more.
Danie is getting ready for the Jewel Ball which Julie is coordinating. Since Lee left for London and Julie’s husband died, Daniel has stepped up to help.
Rachel is living in the city working for Random House. She started seeing David again on his weekly trips to the city. She would go to the country on the weekends. Finally, she one time, she didn’t want to leave. They got engaged. She is still looking for any information on her father. She’s written all the military branches but none had a record of Abraham Rothman. She tried to get a hold of a Sophie Friedman. There were many in the city and she tried all of them with no success. She wasn’t going to give up.
Lena accompanied Joe to the Jewel Ball and was introduced to Julie who knew both Joe and Arnie. Julie reached around Lena to Daniel for introductions. Both Daniel and Lena were shell shocked. Joe led Julie away and there was awkwardness between Daniel and Lena that had never been there before. Julie came back to get Daniel for dinner. Lena told Joe she wanted to leave but she could stay. Daniel found her at the coat check and said he wanted to catch up. She had thought he stopped writing when he heard she was getting married but he said he hadn’t, Will had stopped the correspondence. They made a date for dinner that week to catch up.

Fri 19-Apr Ch 28 P 221 - 236 16
1940 – Rachel is at college and wants to know more about her father. She had asked her mother and her Uncle Joe but they wouldn’t talk about him. She decided to talk to her Uncle Joe and asked about the early years in the country. He told her that when Lena first got the country, she couldn’t stay with him but she made a friend Sophie Friedman and stayed with her. Rachel had a name now. She went home. She noticed things seemed different with her mom and Will. She spent time at the Grossman’s and found she was attracted to David, their son. She asked her mom about her dad again and she stared talking. She was describing Daniel and when Rachel mentioned Sophie, Lena got upset and clamped up. She got back to school and her roommate suggested that she find about her father through his military records. She was going to look into that

Sat 20-Apr Ch 29 P 237 - 255 19
1946 – Daniel is now Secretary of Labor under Truman. He doesn’t like the way Truman is handling the Union strike of Railway workers. If the strikers don’t go back to work, he is threatening to draft the strikers. He and Julia were still friend although she refused his proposal years ago. He went to a party she was hosting and me Lee Richman and ex-model and current reporter and was on-sight during the war. They were both single and they hooked up. He had a meeting with Jake Brennan and he still didn’t like the man but he did believe what he was fighting for. He remembered the Chinese food dinner they had and how condescending he was and then it hit him that he didn’t like that he was paying attention to Lena. He took out the picture of Rachel he had and saw the resemblance. Jake was Rachel’s father. He was finished thinking of Lena. He has tried to retain their friendship after she got married but she never responded and the last letter said “return to sender”. He threw the picture of Rachel away. He went out with Lee when she got back in town, got called away over the Railway workers strike, fixed it and said he has enough. He was going to resign and move back to New York. Before he went back, he and Lee would go to Paris.

Sorry I have been lax in writing. I am still reading along. Just not good at keeping notes right now.

Trudy wrote: "Today's Reading: Mon 8-Apr Ch 13 - 14 P 81 - 93 13"

After dinner, they went out dancing. Sophie grabbed Jake’s hand and they headed to the dance floor. Although Daniel didn’t dance much, he was game and he and Lena danced. After a few dances, the band took a break and the guys brought drinks. After the break was a waltz, Daniel asked if they could sit this one out. Lena was OK with it but Sophie told her to dance with Jake as he loved the waltz and Sophie didn’t like it. They danced and stared into each other’s eyes. They couldn’t look away. After the dance, Jake tried to hold Lena but she pushed away. He decided it was time to end the night.
Lena met Daniel for coffee after class he next week. She let him pay, it was his turn. He was upset the she wouldn’t let him walk her home. The strike was over, both sides considered it a win but nothing much changed. Lena and Sophie went back to work. On that Friday, while they were waiting for their paychecks, there was an explosion. They were locked in the room with no way out. They were on the 7th floor. Out the window, they saw the fire truck, the ladder and hose didn’t ready high enough. They were holding something for people to jump into. The first person jumped and fell right through the cloth to her death. Lena went for the fire escape. They the other women follows. She couldn’t walk down so she climbed up to the 9th floor. She watched as the fire escape, with Sophie on it fall to the ground, crushing everyone. She got into the elevator shaft and finally got pulled free. She got checked out and then wondered home and went to bed. She heard knocking.

Today's Reading: Mon 8-Apr Ch 13 - 14 P 81 - 93 13

Trudy wrote: "Today's Reading: Sun 7-Apr Ch 11 - 12 P 68 - 80 13"

Daniel had been meeting Lena for coffee after class for 8 weeks now, he wanted to get up the nerve to ask her out and tell her how he felt. He asked if he could walk her home which was new. Before he knew it, they were there and Sophie ran out of the house before he could say anything and told Lena that the charges were dropped and they were free. She said they all get together Saturday night and celebrate. She invited Daniel along.
Come Saturday night, it was just going to be he four of them, Daniel, Jake, Sofie and Lena. Lena was not sure about it but Sophie said it would be great. Daniel showed up on time but Jake was late. He was rude to Daniel. Daniel had a corsage for Lena. They went to Chinatown and had Chinese food. Jake was being a jerk but Daniel game for whatever challenge he had. Jake ordered and Daniel tried everything and use the chopsticks and help Lena eat. Once Daniel got the hang of chopsticks, Jake switched to a fork.

Today's Reading: Sun 7-Apr Ch 11 - 12 P 68 - 80 13

Trudy wrote: "Today's Reading; Sat 6-Apr Ch 8 - 10 P 55 - 67 13"

Daniel doesn’t like the idea of the strike, he thinks the way to get change is through politics. He is smitten with Lena but she has him in the friend zone.
The publicity of the strike has died down and the employers are not backing down. They just go to Ellis Island and get more people fresh of the boat who are looking for jobs. Jake is desperate to keep the strike in the public eye and decides to picket the stores that sell the garments. He sends Lena and Sophie there. Some strike busters show up, knock the girls around some, Jake shows up, punches the brutes up. The police show up, Lena and Sophie get arrested. Lena is not in good shape and Jake wants to go to her but as he is with Sophie, can’t really do anything. He is trying to figure out how to break up with Sophie and get with Lena without hurting anyone. He gets the lawyers to get them out of jail and takes them home.

Today's Reading; Sat 6-Apr Ch 8 - 10 P 55 - 67 13

Finally got a round to writing. Lena got a job at her brother's factory made a friend (Sophie) and an enemy (Anna) the first day at work. She went home from work and was kicked out of Yosef's home. Sophie took her home to live with her. Lena starts to take classes to learn English and meets up with Daniel, the guy from the boat. He is very attracted to her but she put him in the friends zone. They get together for coffee after classes. Sophie has a boyfriend, Jake, who is a Union leader. When he and Lena meet by accident, sparks fly. Sophie and Lena go to a Union rally where Lena gets fired up and help to rally the troops to strike (Jake's goal). The shirtwaist workers go on strike. Daniel and Lena meet up at school the next week, Daniel had waiting until the school closed for Lena when she didn't show up the previous week. He doesn't think striking is the right thing to do but doesn't want to upset Lena who is all for the strike.

OK I think I caught up - will try and post more regularly. Just been too tired this week but I have been reading.

Today's Reading: Mon 1-Apr Ch 1 - 2 P 1 -16 16