Bookshelf

Act Two: A Novel in Perfect Pitch

by Kimberly Stuart
Author Website: http://www.kimberlystuart.com/

Available in paperback. David C. Cook, 2008; ISBN: 1434700119; 241 pages.

Okay, as a Midwestern farmgirl transplanted to the busy East Coast, I may be a bit biased, but I loved this book.

It's your classic fish-out-of-water story. Thanks to a little career desperation and a religious experience, a classical music diva from New York accepts a one-time, one-semester job as a college voice professor in Iowa. Things get worse when she arrives to find she'll be living in the attic of an old house on a pig farm. Oh, and did I mention it's filled with kids? And that her daily chauffeur is an opinionated country music fan? Not exactly what she had in mind when her agent arranged this gig. What ensues is a delightful tale and a journey of discovering what's really most important.

While this type of story has been done a thousand times, Ms. Stuart fills her novel with fresh, sassy characters and authentic details. A love of high society, fashion and cuisine meets practicality and downhome families in a plucky collision of real life in different cultures.

Final Thoughts: It's fantastic. In fact, it's the most enjoyable book I've read so far this summer. I highly recommend it.