Cage of stars was about a Mormon family whose 2 daughters, Ruthie and Rebecca, were murdered by this guy, Scott Early, who was said to be Schizophrenic. That's basically how the book starts out. It goes into great detail about how the family deals with it....Everyone has different ways of coping....they have an older daughter, Ronnie, who was 13 at the time, and she kind of gets "forgotten" about at times, and shortly after the girls are murdered, Mom gives birth to a baby boy. She is so caught up in her sadness that she really doesn't pay much attention to the baby boy. Dad's' way of coping is by walking around and thinking...The judge didn't order rule capital punishment, or even a prison sentence; Instead he ordered Scott to be placed in the custody of the maximum security facility for the criminally mentally ill for a period of no less than 3 years and no more than 7 years. He ends up spending 3 years and 11 months. He is married, and he and his wife end up having a baby girl toward the end of the book.
This book is set in Utah, and it's set in the current day.
Eventually, Mom and Dad find it in themselves to forgive Scott for what he has done, and even go see him and his wife. Forgiving them really helps them feel free. Unfortunately, Ronnie does not feel the same way. She eventually moves to San Diego and manages to track Scott and his family down, and becomes the nanny for their baby girl. She gives them a false identity and changes her appearance so they won't be able to figure out who she is. Her parents also do not know she is doing this. They think she is in San Diego going to school to become an Emergency Medical Technician.
She contemplates kidnapping the baby to save the baby from any harm that Scott could do her. She actually starts to do this one weekend, while Scott's wife is away. But in the end, she changes her mind and brings the baby back to scott, who is trying to commit suicide, but Ronnie is able to save his life. Quite Ironic that she wanted him to be killed, but ended up saving his life.
Ronnie ends up moving back to Utah and ends up marrying Miko, and they have a daughter. She coincidentally runs into Scott and family in an emergency room during her internship, several years later, when the baby girl is 9.
I didn't really have an opinion of each character like I have in other books I've read. This was really a different type of book than what I normally read. My thoughts and opinions are more centered around the events that happened and the outcome.
I can only imagine the guilt that Ronnie must've felt when the girls were murdered. She was babysitting at the time and they were playing hide and seek. It was when Ronnie was hiding that the girls were murdered. I can also understand how she didn't want her baby brother to be a sister, because she worried that she wouldn't be able to love them. Her love for her baby brother Raf, and later her baby brother Thor was quite obvious, just as her love for her sisters were. I can understand why she wanted scott to be punished.....I agreed with her opinion, and thought he should've been sentenced the death penalty, even though he "didn't know" what he was doing. The whole time I was reading, I thought she wanted to move to San Diego so she could kill him. I didn't expect what actually happened. I'm also glad she was able to finally move on with her life and settle down, pursue a career that she loved and start her family.
For Mom, I think the turning point was when she planned that huge surprise party for Ronnie. It was her way of acknowledging that Ronnie had been neglected all those years and that she needed to move on with her life. She also didn't really seem that interested in Raf when he was born. I was also surprised when she got pregnant again.
It was interesting reading about all of their friends and acquantances and seeing the relationships they all had with each other. They seemed to live in a very close and tight-knit community...not like the typical city where you might only know a neighbor or two.
I enjoyed the book, but it was definitely different than the types of books I normally read. I'm ready to get back into those fluffy romance novels.
STARTED 9/11/07
FINISHED 9/15/07
Up next Cape Light by Thomas Kinkade
This book is set in Utah, and it's set in the current day.
Eventually, Mom and Dad find it in themselves to forgive Scott for what he has done, and even go see him and his wife. Forgiving them really helps them feel free. Unfortunately, Ronnie does not feel the same way. She eventually moves to San Diego and manages to track Scott and his family down, and becomes the nanny for their baby girl. She gives them a false identity and changes her appearance so they won't be able to figure out who she is. Her parents also do not know she is doing this. They think she is in San Diego going to school to become an Emergency Medical Technician.
She contemplates kidnapping the baby to save the baby from any harm that Scott could do her. She actually starts to do this one weekend, while Scott's wife is away. But in the end, she changes her mind and brings the baby back to scott, who is trying to commit suicide, but Ronnie is able to save his life. Quite Ironic that she wanted him to be killed, but ended up saving his life.
Ronnie ends up moving back to Utah and ends up marrying Miko, and they have a daughter. She coincidentally runs into Scott and family in an emergency room during her internship, several years later, when the baby girl is 9.
I didn't really have an opinion of each character like I have in other books I've read. This was really a different type of book than what I normally read. My thoughts and opinions are more centered around the events that happened and the outcome.
I can only imagine the guilt that Ronnie must've felt when the girls were murdered. She was babysitting at the time and they were playing hide and seek. It was when Ronnie was hiding that the girls were murdered. I can also understand how she didn't want her baby brother to be a sister, because she worried that she wouldn't be able to love them. Her love for her baby brother Raf, and later her baby brother Thor was quite obvious, just as her love for her sisters were. I can understand why she wanted scott to be punished.....I agreed with her opinion, and thought he should've been sentenced the death penalty, even though he "didn't know" what he was doing. The whole time I was reading, I thought she wanted to move to San Diego so she could kill him. I didn't expect what actually happened. I'm also glad she was able to finally move on with her life and settle down, pursue a career that she loved and start her family.
For Mom, I think the turning point was when she planned that huge surprise party for Ronnie. It was her way of acknowledging that Ronnie had been neglected all those years and that she needed to move on with her life. She also didn't really seem that interested in Raf when he was born. I was also surprised when she got pregnant again.
It was interesting reading about all of their friends and acquantances and seeing the relationships they all had with each other. They seemed to live in a very close and tight-knit community...not like the typical city where you might only know a neighbor or two.
I enjoyed the book, but it was definitely different than the types of books I normally read. I'm ready to get back into those fluffy romance novels.
STARTED 9/11/07
FINISHED 9/15/07
Up next Cape Light by Thomas Kinkade
1 comment:
Just dropping by to say hi! I'm in your Womens Reading Group (WRG).
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