"With irony, humor and sympathy she traces the transition of a young woman from a sheltered farm village into the world she encounters in a midwestern university. Ms. Moore can be outrageously funny as she gives us pitch perfect dialogue in areas ranging from social encounters, to race relations, to high-end restaurants. Dealing with the loss of a brother in Iraq, we are brought into the terrible center of pain that a family experiences. We become absorbed with the world as seen by Tassie Keltjin, the 20 year old student. Very, very few literary characters have become as real to me as Tassie.

Ms. Moore dazzled me with her insights and illuminations of our foibles and deceptions.She has an equal sensitivity to the farm land and life. Her word pictures are eloquent, but never precious or pretentious.

In some ways a very unusual book whose characters will stay with you long after you finish the book...they seem real and you want to know what happens to them after you close the cover and finish the book! It's about a college girl becomes a nanny for a white couple who adopts a mixed-race toddler. The nanny matures, the couple has a difficult trial related to a past event. Racial issues and much more. The book is atmospheric, well-written, beautiful prose. No pat answers!

From all of the reviews I read on this book, I was really disappointed after reading it. I felt it was poorly written and I really had to force myself to read it.

I liked Tassie, up until she got into the coffin. I got her humor. The author knows how to write and uses metaphors beautifully. Very descriptive. That is the reason why I checked "like" instead of "dislike". No real plot, not a good ending.

Apparently this author had a very successful book of short stories, that explains alot. If you removed all of the adjectives in this book you might be left with a short story. She started many different stories but finished none of them. I forced myself to finish it because it was our book club selection, but it was a total waste of time.