"Brigadoon with a pinch of Shangri-La"
At St. Francis Hospital in NYC pediatric oncologist Dr.
Steve Cameron usually buries his feelings towards his
terminally ill young patients. However, thirteen years old
Ellie Stanton has reached deeper than anyone has ever
before her when she whispers Merry Christmas, gives him a
present, and thanks him for giving her love. Suffering from
battle fatigue syndrome Steve goes on hiatus seeking a
miracle, but Ellie died anyway. Six years later in Central Park, Irma the bag lady tells
Steve to go to a cabin in Hudson Highlands near Tarrytown,
New York to find what he seeks as she insists she found her
miracle there. One look at her and Steve figures what a
poor miracle, but he needs to get away to ponder his future
so this remote spot is as good as any. The cabin is a
portal to Renaissance, a village where those with crushed
souls mend. Steve meets Meghan Peece and they fall in love.
However his juvenile patients need him; while she fears
leaving her village because she will not remember her
beloved once Renaissance vanishes into the mists during the
Transition. Elizabeth Sinclair brings Brigadoon with a pinch of Shangri-
La into the twenty-first century in an engaging romantic
fantasy that has an underlying tone of sadness involving
children with terminal illness. The story line focuses on
how people cope with tragedy especially when bad things
happen to good people. Readers will commiserate with Steve
as he struggles to cope with seeing his charges die while
Meghan has deep rooted fears of leaving beyond losing her
memory of the village and her soulmate that will touch the
audience. The support cast augments this fine tale that
readers will appreciate. Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted November 15, 2005
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted January 20, 2007
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