The Third Angel by Alice Hoffman

I just finished reading The Third Angel earlier today and it was fantastic. I've been thinking about it ever since. The book got off to a rather slow beginning, but stick with it as it is worth it in the end.

I love Alice Hoffman's novels - I need to read more of them. Her books often deal with the fantastical in our life, they are very hard to explain. They deal with honest troubles in life, but add a mystical dimension.

This novel was a three part novel that dealt with tragic love and involved a ghost and the mystery of who, what, and where the ghost came from originally. The first part of the novel dealt with Maddy, a young lawyer who has traveled to England for her sister's wedding, and f'sds herself falling in love with her sister's fiance. I was annoyed by this story at first because I didn't care for Maddy and had no empathy for her. When this section switched to Allie and Paul's story - it got A LOT better. The second party of the novel was about Paul's mother Frieda in the . She worked as a maid at the same hotel Maddy was staying at in section 1. She had a doomed love affair with a young musician that was heavily into drugs and in love with someone else. Section 3 told the story of Maddy and Allie's mother, Lucy. She stayed at the same hotel as a young girl and witnessed the tragedy that created the ghost that haunts section 1 and 2. By the end I actually flipped back through the book and read parts of the other sections with a much better understanding. It was great. It dealt with the complexities of love, but also had a very engaging mystery. I loved how the different characters and pieces of the story were interrelated.

I would love to discuss this book with someone. It would make a good book club book . . . except that it takes a bit to get into it. Anyone else love this book?