May 19, 2020 NOTHING'S GONNA STOP US NOW

I have two words for you. VIRTUAL GRADUATION. It's that time of year again. Our seniors will graduate this Friday. We usually have all kinds of special activities--a breakfast--awards program--beautiful graduation--BUT NOT THIS YEAR. I feel badly for ANYONE who is trying to celebrate in the midst of COVID-19. The struggle is REAL. After much debate, my school decided to hold a virtual graduation. This involved the COORDINATION  and DEDICATION of many people. I happily agreed to help with the filming AND I'M SO GLAD THAT I DID. I got to see "the kids" again in all their finery. There were "congratulation signs" covering the lawn as the seniors readied themselves with their--caps--gowns--cords--to walk down the aisle and accept their diplomas. Each was captured on film and will be put together for friends and family to watch--this Friday at 6:00.  I know it's not the same as actually being there together BUT we did our best to honor the graduates. Congratulations Seniors. Happy Trails.
Too bad the trail wasn't happy for Lily Millington, the main character of Kate Morton's mystery The Clockmaker's Daughter. This lovely novel is part love story, part mystery and part ghost story. It also spans 150 years, and is told through multiple voices. If you are okay with that then you will love this book. Lily Millington, a one time thief living in England in 1862, falls in love with acclaimed painter Edward Radcliffe while working as his model. The feeling is mutual, but Edward is already engaged to a wealthy socialite named Fannie Brown. In order to escape his future, Edward, Lily and a group of painters escape to Edward's home in the country, Birchfield Manor. After a fumbled robbery, Fannie is dead and Lily disappears. A few years later, Edward dies and leaves his home to his sister Lucy who uses the house as a school for girls and later a museum dedicated to her brother. What's important in this novel is Birchfield Manor and its effect on the people who visit the home over 150 years including a student named Ava in the 1900's, Julia & Alan Winston in 1928,  Leonard, Jack, and Elodie Winslow, an archivist, who finds an old satchel containing sketches of a house and a picture of a woman that sets her on the hunt for answers. I really enjoyed this book but have to admit that it was NOT an easy read. You should make a list of all the characters because they are all connected in the end but it's hard to keep track of them because the book flips back and forth through time and has a ghost who is an unreliable narrator. WOW. This book is about 500 pages or a 6 mile run that I thoroughly enjoyed.