Back to Madeline Island

August 7, 2006
The sunny sequel to Gilbertson's debut, Moon Over Madeline Island
, finds gal pals Eve Moss and Ruby Prévost, and their crew of apron-making employees, enjoying the fruits of a flourishing small business on northern Wisconsin's Madeline Island. Eve is "forty-seven, single and NOT looking" for a man. Instead, she's found college professor Helen Williams, the now-grown daughter she gave up for adoption 30 years ago. Their reunion inspires Eve to reach out to her own estranged father, who in turn reveals a difficult piece of family history. But Gilbertson knows to keep his story lighthearted, and less serious subplots abound—the gang takes up belly dancing, tries to quit smoking and stumbles upon a few island secrets. Despite the goings-on, the narration is slowed by attention to mundane details, and the references to armpit pads and girdles, Wisconsin fashion ("head-to-toe in a tasteful denim number") and music (Dean Martin, Edith Piaf) firmly place the book in lady lit territory. Readers who, like Eve, "sincerely don't
want a relationship" will appreciate the book's attention to family and friends over lovers.