Thursday Review: The Best Light by Paul L. Madden

Did you watch that "The Artist" movie people were so ga-ga about at the Oscars this year?  Well in some ways The Best Light is kind of like that, only not about silent movies.  It's about a guy who's sort of on the downswing and a girl who's on the upswing and how their lives come together.

The guy is Frank Hemsky, a middle-aged nature photographer.  If you have one of those calendars of national parks or whatever like I do, that's the kind of stuff Frank does.  While he still enjoys his work, it's getting harder to do because he's getting too old to go tramping around with a camera and whatnot.  Maybe he should retire but he has no life at home.  He's divorced and really doesn't have any girlfriends or just regular friends anymore.

But a long time ago Frank did love a woman named Vera Swinton.  He's really bummed when he sees in a newspaper article that Vera is dead.  There's a park being dedicated in her honor in the town of Little Mesa, New Mexico, so Frank decides on the spur of the moment to go there and find out what happened to his lost love.

That's where the girl comes into the story.  Her name is Anna Swinton.  Yup, like Vera because she's Vera's 18-year-old daughter.  (Non-Spoiler Alert:  she's NOT Frank's daughter.  Get that thought out of your head, you sick monkey.)  Anna is living with her aunt in Little Mesa, where she's the star actress of the local high school and such.  Of course like any kid her age who's interested in acting, Anna really wants to go to Hollywood.

So as Fate would have it, Frank shows up in town and meets Vera's daughter Anna.  While she isn't swooning over Frank, Anna is drawn to him by his worldliness.  I mean here's someone who's been all over the globe and lives in LA, the town Anna has dreamed about.  At the same time Frank is drawn to Anna because of her mother.  So Anna agrees to help Frank learn more about Vera and he tells Anna about the big world outside Little Mesa.

Like the earlier "Changing Seasons" the end is sad, but not THAT sad.  I mean no one's contemplating suicide, except perhaps Vera.  Or did she?  Hurm.  And what happens between Frank and Anna?  You'll just have to find out.

Tomorrow you'll find out what the worst XMas songs ever are and maybe win a free ebook!