Erica Bauermeister

This book is a tribute to the power of books, and the fact that every book touches the reader in a different way. Alice's brother, Peter, dies young, and Alice, always wanting to write, pours her grief into a book, Theo. After many rejections, an agent decides to publish it. Various readers read the book, and each reader takes a message from the book - as if it was written for them.
It is touching and heartfelt. It resonated with me, because I have always believed that there is a book for everyone - and reading special books can really touch your heart, and help you through various situations.
This book was a treasure to read. I enjoyed each story and each character.… (mere)

I've never read anything quite like this. The first chapter is about a young woman who writes a book. The following chapters are about people who come in contact with the book, and their relationships with the book. So each chapter almost reads as a short story, but what they all have in common is this one book.
A really interesting concept for a book.
I liked it, and the concept. I liked how every once in awhile, in some of the chapters, there is an interconnection with a character from another chapter. All of the characters were interesting.… (mere)

The story explores the meaning of home and family through a series of broken relationships, fairy tales, and concealed truths. Beginning with a father & daughter on an isolated island off the coast of Washington and an obsession with scents and fairy tales. The obsession leads to disaster, and Emmaline (the daughter) is taken in by an elderly couple who own a remote resort.

After spending her first 13 years in social isolation, Emmaline struggles. She comes to love the couple and their dog, whose reliance on scents helps her to integrate her experiences. School is a more difficult social problem for her. Her classmate, Fisher, is also an outsider in the school and they establish a relationship based on that. He helps her to read facial expressions human behavior.

They try to escape their unhappiness together, which fractures both of their families in different ways. Fisher runs away to Seattle. Emmaline runs away in search of him and also finds her mother, who is also obsessed with scents.

The story arc is a familiar one. The vehicle of using scents to explore the drives and motivations of people is novel. The writing is okay, I could have done without the repetitive phrasing through out the story: "Once upon a time, Emmaline...", "My fault, my fault".... These may have been more noticeable to me listening to the audio version of the book.… (mere)