Almost Eden
by Richard Taylor
URLink Print and Media


"Izzy stepped off the tricky surface of the landing pad onto the real face of Dong Tam."

Izzy Armand is a bright, beautiful, conscientious young woman on her way to Vietnam as a recreational aide with the Red Cross. Abe Chastain is the handsome young lieutenant assigned to sit next to Izzy on their Pan Am Flight from Honolulu to Clark Field in the Philippines. With much time to kill, the two strike up a conversation and develop an instant friendship that changes the course of their lives, leaving both wishing for more time together. They try to steal what time they can while the war rages around them but find themselves changed by what they encounter in Vietnam. As Izzy is propelled into the middle of the Tet Offensive, Abe fights battles both on the battlefield and in his increasingly fragile psyche. Will Abe ever be psychologically ready to handle their growing feelings of love and fully accept Izzy's strange ties to the past?

Though part of a series, this is still a book that can be easily followed and enjoyed as a standalone work. Izzy's grandparents and parents are the subjects of the first part of the series. Still, the author includes enough backstory to give readers a clear understanding of Izzy's unique family history and its effect on her. There are hints of the supernatural woven throughout the story, with Izzy convinced that she possesses the being of her dead grandmother (her namesake, Isabella) within her. Izzy feels her grandmother's presence deeply and is attuned to communication from the grandmother she never met. Taylor is a gifted storyteller who creates memorable characters that seep into readers' thoughts long after they have turned the last page.

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