Great exploration of choices people make in war-time and about working through guilt. This book is similar to The Stoyteller by Jodi Picoult ( )

This was a wonderful story of the relationships between two sets of sisters, two old and two young, plus also a bit of a love story, and also a bit of a mystery. The story takes you back to the war days which was the saddest thing imaginable. Really liked this one and will read more from this author. ( )

This lovely novel has everything: lyrical prose, passionate descriptions, a windswept Edisto, South Carolina setting, a crotchety, Hungarian matriarchal figure named Helena with a mysterious past, whose prosperous, white-collar nephew hires narrator Elenor Murray to tend to her demands, in a seaside house filled with priceless portraits of unknown origins. And music? The Time Between is filled with classical music, running through the story thematically from the hands of Elenor, who, racked with guilt over her involvement in her sister’s life-altering accident and her father’s death, has foresworn her love of the piano. And yet, the reader learns, Helena’s past in war-torn Hungary incrementally unfolds as the two women learn to trust each other. In Hungary, we learn, Helena’s life was centered upon music, as Helena was one of three sisters regionally famous as a trio before the war tossed their life asunder. It is the piano that draws Elenor and Helena slowly together, and Helena’s nephew, Finn, who ultimately links the two women by loving both. I loved everything about this steady-paced, intriguing story. It is replete with love, history, the complications of family, redemption and growth. I received this novel as a surprise for joining the infamous book club, the Pulpwood Queens, by its book-loving headmistress, Kathy Murphy. Reading this novel has made a Karen White fan of me! ( )

Very well written story. I've read a few books by this author now and this is my second favorite.

Eleanor and Helena aren't connected by much, they've both spent time on Edisto but don't really know each other. One day Finn connects the two. He is Helena's grand-nephew and Eleanor's boss. He hires Eleanor to care for Helena after her sister passes away.

Eleanor does not have an easy life. She is essentially supporting her mother, her sister and her brother-in-law. She has a lot of guilt about an accident that caused her sister to become wheelchair bound.

Helena is keeping a family secret. At first she is resistant to Eleanor, but then she recognizes her own pain in Eleanor and the two slowly start to work towards closure for their pasts together.

I didn't figure out Helena's big secrets by the end of the book and I always appreciate when a mystery stays a mystery until the story reveals it.
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Excellent! ( )