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    Traveling Light
    Traveling Light
    Traveling Light
    Ebook13 pages13 minutes

    Traveling Light

    By Andrea Thalasinos

    4/5

    ()

    About this ebook

    Paula Makaikis is ashamed of her marriage. Driven out of their bedroom by Roger’s compulsive hoarding, she has spent the past ten years sleeping downstairs on her husband’s ratty couch. Distant and uninspired, Paula is more concerned with the robins landing on her office window ledge than her hard-earned position at the university. Until a phone call changes everything.A homeless Greek man is dying in a Queens hospital and Paula is asked to come translate. The old man tells her of his beloved dog, Fotis, who bit a police officer when they were separated. Paula has never considered adopting a dog, but she promises the man that she will rescue Fotis and find him a good home. But when Fotis enters her life she finds a companion she can’t live without. Suddenly Paula has a dog, a brand-new Ford Escape, an eight-week leave of absence, and a plan.So Fotis and Paula begin the longest drive of their lives. In northern Minnesota, something compels her to answer a help-wanted ad for a wildlife rehabilitation center. Soon Paula is holding an eagle in her hands, and the experience leaves her changed forever. An inspiring story about fate, family, and healing, this novel explores what is possible when we cut the ties that hold us down and the heart is free to soar. Traveling Light by Andrea Thalasinos is an inspiring story about fate, family, and healing.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateJul 16, 2013
    ISBN9780765333025
    Traveling Light
    Author

    Andrea Thalasinos

    ANDREA THALASINOS, Ph.D., is a professor of sociology at Madison College. Her respect for huskies grew while she was running her own sled team of six dogs. She helped found a dog rescue group in the upper Midwest for displaced northern breeds. Andrea lives and writes in Madison, Wisconsin. An Echo Through the Snow is her first novel.

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    Reviews for Traveling Light

    4/5

    4 ratings4 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Well written. Interesting development.
    • 5/5
      Loved this book about an academic who is ashamed of her marriage. There's a lot of stuff going on in this book, coming of age when you're 50, hoarding, dogs, raptor rescue, family...I could go on and on. The best thing you can do is just get this book and read it for yourself. I've already gone on Amazon and ordered her first book, An Echo Through The Snow!
    • 5/5
      I would give this 6 stars if I could, I really loved this book. This is a story of a woman who has reached a point of no return; her marriage and her career are both floundering, and she takes actions that seem at first totally irrational, but turn out to be the best intuitive decisions of her life. She begins a journey, and along the way she learns to love a dog, an eagle, an owl, and other assorted animals and humans. This is beautifully written, with characters that are complex and interesting. And the story is absorbing.
    • 3/5
      The storyline is pretty straightforward: a woman gets a homeless dog she doesn't want, leaves her hoarder husband, ends up working at a raptor/wildlife rehabilitation center. Sounds like a great basis for a story, lots of potential.Lots of potential it didn't fulfill, sadly. Initially, the writing failed to draw me in, too much explaining and telling, and didn't bring out either sympathy or empathy from me. There were too many metaphors for my taste.I absolutely agree that puppy mills are horrid places run by greedy, heartless (insert favorite bad word here). I also think that wolves should be allowed to be wolves and dogs should allowed to be dogs, and having wolf-hybrids as pets is a terrible idea. Still, the story felt too preachy about animal rights. I don't mind the stand, in fact I agree with it, but I don't like preachiness.I wondered, with all the posturing about the awful things people do to animals, there was nary a word about the fur industry. The protagonist's mother worked for decades in the industry as a seamstress, but there was not a single mention of the brutality of that business. Hey, if you're going to preach to me, at least be consistent.The writing felt to me like it bordered on amateurish. It just didn't flow well, not horrible, but there was nothing that made me especially appreciate the writing or turns of phrase.Given all of that, I could have enjoyed the story if not for the protagonist. She seemed to revel in being a victim. Fairly late in the book, she thought “It felt good to be told what to do.” Come on, take some responsibility for your own life. Grow up.I would have liked to know more about Roger and his hoarding, but there was no insight there. The characters lacked depth. This potentially great story just devolved into another predictable romance.I was given a copy of the book for review.