Jane Roberts Wood

This is the story of Mary Lou Burgundy, whose gypsey husband has just died, and whose 15 year old daughter, Echo, is coping by living in the treehouse on the property of an old widower, Mr. Roseborough. It is also the story of Dr. Anne Hamilton, who starts a class on single parenting at the local college. Anne is learning to cope with the loss of her own family, and with the end of a long affair with a married man. The characters are well developed, slightly quirky at times, and the plot moves well.

This is a story about love, family and friendships. Can you love someone who is very different from you? If that someone is your own child, can you not love them? Mary Lou describes her relationship with Echo by comparing them to a mother bird who has found a fish in her nest. How could the mother ever understand the fish's need to swim?

As the story progresses, we see both Anne and Mary Lou learning from each other and becoming comfortable with the different kind of normal life has imposed on each of them.… (meer)