Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser

Sister Carrie is set in late 19th century cities of Chicago and New York. Sister Carrie comes to live with her sister and brother in law in Chicago. Attracted by the bright lights and high living she see all around her, she takes up with Douet and lives with him as his "wife." She soon is discontented with her life and runs off with Hurstwood, who unknown to Carrie, has stolen money from his employer. They soon make their way to New York, after several years of struggling, Carrie starts her acting career and soon leave Hurstwood.

A great read! I really enjoyed Sister Carrie. The plot was well written and the characters were likable. I thought this was a touching story about a young girl trying to better herself in the world. I felt for Carrie, but didn't truly like her and her ambitions. She didn't seem to have anything to show for it at the end, other then her unhappiness.

The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier

The Virgin Blue is the story of two Tournier woman living centuries apart. Ella moves to France with her husband Rick. While there, she is determined to find out about her family's French ancestry. She is distrubed by nightmares with the color blue and a prayer in French. In order to understand the dream she digs deeper into her family history and discovers a gruesome fact dealing with Isabella and Marie Tournier. Ella's story intertwine with Isabella throughout the book. Every discovery Ella makes is shadowed with Isabella's story.

I thought this was a wonderful and touching story. I thought this was even better then The Girl with a Pearl Earring and Falling Angels. One of Chevalier best books!