The Third Angel

I am a big fan of Alice Hoffman's writing, so I loved finding a book of hers that I had not read.  The Third Angel was written in 2008, so I'm not sure how I missed it, but I am glad that I found it!

This was a little bit of a confusing book to read, and when I re-read it, I may take notes!  The book tells the story of three women in love with the wrong men.  There is a tie in each story that brings each story to the next, but I found that to be fairly subtle, yet I knew there was a connection between the stories.

The first Chapter is called The Heron's Wife, 1999. It is about Maddy Heller, a New York attorney, who went to London for her sister's wedding.  And there, she fell in love with her sister's fiance, Paul.

The second chapter is Lion Park, 1966. This chapter is about Frieda Lewis.  Frieda fell in love with a drug addicted rock star.

And the third chapter is The Rules of Love, 1952. In this chapter, Bryn Evans was to marry, but was still in love with her ex-husband.

The main connection between all three of these chapters is Lucy Green.  She had been a witness to a horrible fatal accident when she was twelve years old, and she had been searching for the Third Angel for over forty years.

"'People say there's the Angel of Life and the Angel of Death, but there's another one, too.  The one who walks among us.' 

He could tell that she was listening. 

'He's nothing fierce or terrible or filled with light.  He's like us, sometimes we can't even tell him apart.  Sometimes we're the ones who try to save him.  He's there to show us who we are.  Human beings aren't gods.  We make mistakes."

I loved this book.  It's classic Alice Hoffman, with just enough mysticism and love.