Book Review: Magic Hour (PNW, child: lost and found)

Magic Hour, by Kristin Hannah (Ballantine Books, 432pp, 2010, $14.00)

Remember Love Story starring Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal back in the 70s? Remember it wasn't a love story between the two of them but between O'Neal's character and his father? 

New York Times' bestselling author Kristin Hannah's 15th novel is likewise the story of a little girl lost and found but primarily about two grown-up sisters (the reader actually likes and identifies with both of them). The older one, a cheerleader, becomes the town sheriff while the younger, quieter, studious one becomes a child psychiatrist who sort of runs into trouble and is asked to come home to help out her hometown, which she does. 

Magic Hour is also about forgiving, and growing up as adults after failed marriages and also about the questionable involvement of the media and its ability to twist events just a little. Throw in a disappearance or two, a prison sentence, and the beautiful Pacific Northwest and you may just fall in love with and read the rest of Hannah's work.

Magic Hour is a fast read but not because there is a lot of dialogue. Rather, because the story is so compelling and the pace is riveting. You may just devour it in one weekend, taking it with you wherever you go, on the chance you can read a quick chapter or two. 

Truly a love story about growing up and growing better and helping each other along the way, including the little girl who may just be the real winner after all.