Innocence by Kathleen Tessaro

I just finished this book. When I bought it, I thought it may be a bit of fluff....it didn't seem too deep, and the tag line was "Love. The greatest temptation of all." BUT - I have learned: Don't judge a book by it's cover.

Within 3 days time, I have finished this book. This is not really off the mark for me, I tend to read fast. I guess what I liked was all the places to book went in that amount of time and in 371 pages. The book follows three American girls who live in London and are in acting school. All is well for them until "love" enters the picture for one of the girls.

Now, this may sound like a sappy, stupid love story, but the description in the jacket doesn't give justice to the story. It's not just love, but the kind of love. It's not just girls' friendship, but the kinds of friendship. It's about paths chosen, lives lived, and what happens when your dead friend comes back to call you on it - and has a secret of her own.

Through series of time jumps - past, present, past, present again - the author takes Evie, Robbie and Imogene (mostly Evie & Robbie), who they think they are, and are they really just THAT? Or are they living with the ramifications of dreams deferred...or dreams they really didn't want in the first place?

While an easy read and not a "classic", I found that I was presently surprised by Innocence. It wasn't fluff. I loved the characters. And, as a gal who grew up in the 80's - I LOVE the references to the pop culture of the time. References to plays, sonnets, poems, and concertos appear throughout...and I'm sure if I knew the references well, I would draw even more meaning from the pages.

Side note: Late last night, or really early this morning, as I was finishing up, it hit me! The date was June 21, 2009. Huh, interesting. In the book, Part One is: February 1986. Part Two is: June 21, 1991. Part Three is: June 21, 1996. June 21st is a major date in the book. How is it I managed to pick a random book, in the clearance shelf, and read it just in time to coincide with the main date of the book? Woooo, trippy....