'An Accidental Woman'
by Barbara Delinsky
First Read : 21-28 Sept 03, Price: $79 @ PageOne
Publisher: Pocket Books, ISBN: 0-7434-2995-8
British Edition, Paperback

'An Accidental Woman' is about Heather Malone who, for fourteen years, has lived in Lake Henry, New England, with Micah Smith and his two daughters Star and Melissa. Heather is almost the 'model citizen' in that part of the area, and everyone likes her to some extent. One early winter morning, however, she is arrested and charged with murdering a man in California by the FBI. Therefore, Poppy Blake, who is paraplegic and is also Heather's closest friend, tries to search out Heather's past, and try to clear Heather's name.

'An Accidental Woman' has two main storylines. The first line is about Heather's arrest, and another is about the love between Poppy and Griffin Hughes, who is a writer that indirectly caused Heather's arrest. Of course, there is a subdued line that tells us about maple sugar-making, a job that went on in the Smith family as a 'family affair', and this line literally holds all the other plots in place.

'An Accidental Woman', apart from the great storyline, has a lot of emotional feelings that makes you read on. It holds your breath in places, like when the winter storm attacks Lake Henry and the main pipeline for the sap from the maple trees is cut off, which is crucial for Micah's business. It is also moving, when Poppy remembers the time before she got the life-changing accident. What makes me impressed is the part about how Poppy, Cassie Byrnes (Heather's lawyer) and the other people find more and more about Heather's past, and how it changed Heather's fate. To conclude, 'An Accidental Woman' is an excellent book, Barbara Delinsky did a very good job, and I would recommend it to everybody.