Carol Tialdi

Willow Pond

During a time when prohibition was in full swing, speakeasy's were all the rage, and gangsters ruled the big cities, Laura Austin found her entire world turned upside down following the kidnapping  of her son, Todd. Who would do this? Was it a hostile ex-employee whose wife had serious mental issues? Or could it be someone involved with her favorite aunt, Virginia Kingsley, who was one of the most well known and feared female gangster figures in New York City? in the days following the kidnapping, Laura's ex-husband, the famous yet arrogant actor Philip Austin, pays a hefty ransom to the kidnapper who then disappears along with the child. Follow Laura over the next year and a half as she experiences loss, heartache, depression, love, happiness, and even a surprising addition to her family, all the while never giving up hope that her precious Todd will someday be returned to her.

Aside from a few minor editing errors, Willow Pond was a great read. being set back in the 1920's and 1930's gave the book a whole different feeling.  Things were done differently, people acted differently, and their motives were different. This was an age without the Internet, without today's technology, and people had to rely on good old fashioned private investigating and police work. the book had numerous twists and turns and constantly kept me guessing, almost to the pint where I wanted to say, "I give up, tell me already!" I almost feel Laura may have moved on from the kidnapping a little to prematurely, to the point where the book has to remind us that she's still thinking about her son, especially during the happy moments she experiences while he is gone. This may just be the result of the times, where without the technology that we know, her hands were tied compared to what she may have been able to do if the story were taking place today. But in the end, it was a happy ending, which made all of the nail biting worth it.

Kristin D