January 16, 2012
For her third novel in the Snowglobe Connections series, Baumbich (the Dearest Dorothy series) returns to smalltown Wanonishaw, Minn., where Sasha Davis retreats to her childhood home to recover when an injury ends her career as a prima ballerina. Shutting out her husband and dance partner, Donald, Sasha copes with pain and depression. Comfort comes from memories, a mystifying snow globe that her mother gave her at the beginning of her dance career, and from an unlikely source: her 19-year-old easy-going, upbeat personal assistant, Evelyn, who is working through some problems of her own. Small acts of kindness lead to unexpected, strong bonds of friendship between the two women in this gentle tale of grace, second chances, leaps of faith, and finding a way through difficult circumstances. Baumbich’s technique of telling the story from inside the head of each character creates sympathy for them despite their flaws, but proves tedious in propelling the plot because the reader is too long in the dark about why Sasha won’t see her husband, why he stays away for many months, and why Evelyn abandons dreams of college to become engaged against her parents’ wishes. Agent: Danielle Egan-Miller.