A Year and a Day

This book was fantastic! I read a lot of books (I have over 3,000 in my personal collection) and this one kept me riveted the entire time. In fact, I couldn't go to sleep until I finished it! I was about to reread it again but it's disappeared, which means one of the other readers in my house has whisked it away... probably to read and reread and...

I am on my way through this book for the second time, and I love it just as much as the first time! All the descriptions are so rich, I want to go to the places, eat the food, wear the clothes and definitely meet the people. I love every character for different reasons, and most of them remind me of friends. It is the mark of a lovely author to capture a person so completely in their world that you want to go live in it! Sci-fi readers will love this book, fantasy readers will love this book, romance readers will love this book, anyone studying religion, mythology, chocolate, costumes, art or New York will love this book....

I will admit up front that I've been with this novel since it was a series of vignettes involving the main characters, but that has only given me time to appreciate the growth of the original works towards the final novel. A Year and a Day is published under a romance imprint, but the story goes far beyond a simple romance (which is an oxymoron to begin with). It is a character study, a commentary on modern spirituality, and a fitting tribute to Manhattan. It's also just a simply good read, a fun story with sympathetic characters and an unbeatable setting, where angels and gypsies commune in Ukranian restaurants, Mardi Gras festivals, and Beltane rituals on the Great Lawn in Central Park. Absolutely, entirely recommended.

And I mean that in every true sense of the word "romance"! A breath of fresh air amongst all the typical novels classified as romance (i.e. "bodice rippers"), which I gave up reading a long time ago. The journey of discovery of the love the two angels have for each other set in New York was a delight to read - the author's descriptions were so vivid, I could see everything in my mind's eye, even though I have never been to New York. And I loved how the author wove all the various "religious" beliefs into a whole, with none of them taking precedence over any other, and instead supporting and bolstering each other. Very nicely and lovingly done.

Have several boxes of kleenex next to your chair when you read this one. You'll need them. The premise of this story is that the Angel of Joy and the Angel of Vengeance are sent together on a mission to New York City, and are assigned to take human form and live among mortals for a year and a day. Vengeance (who takes the name Julian) is more than a little irritated with his traveling companion (who goes by Eponine), both because of her incessant perkiness and because she refuses to tell him the purpose of the mission. What Julian doesn't know is that he *is* the mission. Having spent thousands of years among violence and destruction, he is on the edge of madness and in danger of falling. Eponine's task is to save his soul. Along the way, they discover disturbing feelings for each other. The novel is also populated with a host of delightful secondary characters, including a sassy gypsy named Phina who always gives the impression of being more than she seems. New York also plays a scene-stealing role. Harvey calls this novel a love letter to the city, and she's right. The novel is a feast for the senses. I could almost feel the turning seasons in the air. I know I could taste the chocolate! The characters are complex, and their developing relationship is a thing of depth. This is not one of those novels where, even at the end, the characters are still in the first blush of infatuation. This is a love that a reader can believe in.