Year of the Dog

January 15, 2007
Hearon's 17th book, the first since Ella in Bloom
(2001), is a solid story of second chances and renewing family ties. Janey Daniels, 25, is taking a "sabbatical" in Vermont from her job as a pharmacist in Peachland, S.C., after her high school sweetheart and husband of five years dumps her for an ex-girlfriend. In Vermont, with its brilliantly colored Octobers and frigid winters, Janey bonds with Beulah, a Labrador puppy she's raising to become a companion for a blind person. It's while walking Beulah that she meets James Maarten, a potential boyfriend who is secretive about his past. At Janey's insistence, James eventually comes around to opening up and reconnecting with his family. Janey's attempts at intimacy, though, are sometimes rebuffed, leaving her with Beulah to love, socialize and wonder if she will ever be able to part with. In these moments, Janey's neediness is deeply felt, but she often appears far wiser and more even-keeled than her background and youth would allow, especially regarding her budding romance. Hearon's in good, but not top, form.

March 15, 2007
Janey Daniels, 25, is a pharmacist in Peachland, South Carolina. When her husband of five years leaves her for an old girlfriend, she takes a one-year sabbatical in Vermont to avoid the talk. While there, she raises a puppy to be a companion dog for the blind. Walking Beulah at the dog park, she meets James Maarten. Coming from a place where everybody knows everything about everybody, Janey finds it hard to deal with his reserve, in the same way she finds it hard to deal with the idea of giving up Beulah. As her need for both of them grows, so does the intimacy. At the same time, she connects with Aunt May, the black sheep of the family, and finds an ally in a strange place. This is not just a cute-sad book about loving and losing a dog but instead a complex and very real story of love and loss, changing perspectives, and making the best of what life gives you. In Hearon's more than capable hands, it is a pleasure.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)