THE SHORTEST WAY HOME (Miriam Parker)

This was an interesting book, a little different in its focus from my usual reading.  The main character, Hannah Greene, is a 30-year-old recent MBA who is set to become engaged to her staid, organized, and wealthy boyfriend, Ethan, and start a coveted new job in finance at Goldman Saks in Manhattan.  When she and Ethan visit a winery in Sonoma, California just before graduation, she finds that her goals in life seem to have transformed overnight.  She is drawn to both to the geographical area and to the winery itself and when she is offered a summer job marketing the struggling winery she changes her plans and plans to stay in California, much to Ethan's shock and dismay. 

This is not a romance, but more of an adult coming-of-age story on several levels.  Hannah has issues (a bit annoying at times) with communication.  She hides rather than confronting her problems, as evidenced in her relationship with her mother back in Iowa.  I found it appalling that Hannah never returned her mother's phone calls despite the fact that there had never been a nasty break or falling out between them.  Hannah simply didn't want to deal with her mother due to issues in her childhood.  She also avoided contact with Ethan after he moved back to NY even though they had left their relationship status up in the air.

This is also a novel about wine and wineries, which I found fascinating.  In fact, I can still almost taste the wine described in the novel

I would recommend this novel as a lighter, but also thought-provoking, summer read about the nature of relationships and the choices that we make in life.  Every character at some point has reached a point where they have to choose - Linda and Everett (their marriage), William (his aspiring film-making career), Celeste (her marriage), Linda and Jackson (their relationship), and more.  Whenever I actually remember a story once I finish the last page, I consider it an accomplishment.  When I'm still tasting the wine that I haven't actually sampled, it seems like a book is a little special!