The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Weller Public Library

212 Main Street, Waitsburg

Hours: Mon. and Thurs. 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Storytime: Mon., 10:30 a. m.

“As Close to Us as Breathing,” by Elizabeth Poliner (Adult Fiction): In 1948, a small stretch of the Woodmont, Connecticut shoreline, affectionately named “Bagel Beach,” has long been a summer destination for Jewish families. Here sisters Ada, Vivie, and Bec assemble at their beloved family cottage, with children in tow and weekend-only husbands who arrive each Friday in time for the Sabbath meal. During the weekdays, freedom reigns. But when a terrible accident occurs on the sisters’ watch, a summer of hope and self-discovery transforms into a lifetime of atonement and loss for members of this close-knit clan. Seen through the eyes of Molly, who was twelve years old when she witnessed the accident, this is the story of a tragedy and its aftermath, of expanding lives painfully collapsed. Elizabeth Poliner is a masterful storyteller, a brilliant observer of human nature, and in “As Close to Us as Breathing” she has created an unforgettable meditation on grief, guilt, and the boundaries of identity and love.

“The Widow,” by Fiona Barton, (Adult Fiction); When the police started asking questions, Jean Taylor turned into a different woman. One who enabled her and her husband to carry on, when more bad things began to happen...But that woman’s husband died last week. And Jean doesn’t have to be her anymore. There’s a lot Jean hasn’t said over the years about the crime her husband was suspected of committing. She was too busy being the perfect wife, standing by her man while living with the accusing glares and the anonymous harassment. Now there’s no reason to stay quiet. There are people who want to hear her story. They want to know what it was like living with that man. She can tell them that there were secrets. There always are in a marriage. 

 The truth—that’s all anyone wants. But the one lesson Jean has learned in the last few years is that she can make people believe anything…

“Cometh the Hour,” by Jeffrey Archer (Adult Fiction); “Cometh the Hour” opens with the reading of a suicide note, which has devastating consequences for Harry and Emma Clifton, Giles Barrington and Lady Virginia. Giles must decide if he should withdraw from politics and try to rescue Karin, the woman he loves, from behind the Iron Curtain. But is Karin truly in love with him, or is she a spy? “Cometh the Hour” is the penultimate book in the Clifton Chronicles and, like the five previous novels - all of which hit the New York Times bestseller list - showcases Jeffrey Archer’s extraordinary storytelling with his trademark twists.