Four very different sisters grace Allison Pittman's The Bridegrooms, a book that analyzes what love is -- and what it isn't. Vada, the oldest, has an understanding with sensible Garrison but longs to be swept away by passion. Ungainly Hazel writes letters to men she's never met in hopes of securing a husband. Quiet, elegant Althea writes her heart out in poetry she shares with an unconscious man. And Lisette, far too spoiled and beautiful, tells off the young ball player who follows her around like a smitten puppy.Lurking in the background is the shadow of the mother who abandoned them as children. Unspoken hurts lie at the heart of this small family. Very much in the foreground is the servant, Molly, a strident Irish woman who each weekend drinks her paycheck away and seems as given to blister the girls with verbal abuse as to bless them. Their father, "Doc," a physician, although kind-hearted, seems a bit clueless in a household of girls.
The plot revolves around an event which occurs when the Brooklyn Bridegrooms, a baseball team, comes to town to play the Cleveland Spiders. During a game, a line drive knocks out a spectator and the unconscious man is placed in Vada's bed to regain consciousness or die.
With memorable characters and an exquisite writing style, The Bridegrooms entertains well. Still, I question some of its concepts. The characters are sometimes quite harsh with one another, and Molly's tirades, while meant to amuse, did not. The book seems to confuse love and infatuation while attempting to define them as separate. Also, telling four separate stories within the limitations of a single book proves problematic. Its author did well at weaving the stories together, but there simply wasn't enough space to delve too deeply into each character's emotional complexities.
Beyond these quibbles, this story will stay with me. I was sorry when the book ended. Women who enjoy historical romance will enjoy Bridegrooms.
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*This book was provided to me by the publisher for purposes of review.
