The Time Between

April 15, 2013
Fourteen years after an accident left her sister Eve paralyzed and herself guilt-ridden, Eleanor Murray struggles to atone--not only for the accident, but also for falling in love with her brother-in-law, Glen. The accident fractured the family, dashing Eve's future as a beauty pageant contestant. And after their father dies, Eleanor's dreams of playing piano at Juilliard dissolve. Their mother holds Eleanor responsible for keeping together the family she broke apart. Eve knows she should forgive Eleanor, but she can't quite let go of her anger. Glen, too, is torn between his commitment to Eve and his attraction to Eleanor. Balancing her work at a law office with caring for her mother, sister and brother-in-law, Eleanor too often finds that neither time nor money will stretch far enough. So she arrives late or leaves early, grateful that her boss, Finn Beaufain--the handsome, gray-eyed, divorced father of an adorable yet fragile daughter--tolerates her erratic schedule. She gets dinner on the table, bathes her sister, placates her arthritic mother and occasionally slips on a slinky red dress to play piano at a local dive, hoping someone might offer her solace in his unfamiliar arms. Finding her at the bar one night, Finn gives her a chance: a chance to recover her lost self and perhaps a chance at love. Finn gives her a job caring for his aunt Helena on Edisto Island, where Eleanor grew up. White (After the Rain, 2012, etc.) once again crafts characters who transcend their romantic roles through their frailties and weaknesses. An appealing romance with intergenerational resonance.

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May 15, 2013
Eleanor has spent half her life atoning for the accident that paralyzed her sister, Eve, when they were teenagers. Now in their thirties, the sisters live together in the South Carolina Low Country with their mother and Eve's husband. Eleanor not only does the cooking and chauffeuring, she also provides the family with a steady paycheck. When Eleanor's boss asks her to take a side job acting as caregiver for his elderly aunt Helena, she jumps at the chanceseeing it as an opportunity to spend time away from the stifling frustration she experiences at home. Little does she realize she's exchanging one dysfunctional family for another. Helena has lots of secrets to hide, and her troubles go all the way back to WWII. Eleanor and Helena get off to a rocky start but soon discover they have plenty in common, having both spent their lives trying to win forgiveness from their sisters. White moves smoothly between narrators as well as different time periods, crafting an intriguing and romantic family drama that will appeal to fans of Sarah Jio and Dorothea Benton Frank.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)