Customer Reviews

Lady Luck's Map of Vegas: A Novel

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Lady Luck's Map of Vegas is one of those books that will stay with me for a long time. It made an impression - a beautiful story about India, a woman who must make a huge decision in her life when, at the age of 40, she ends up pregnant. Between a schizophrenic twin sister and a mother whose secrets fill the pages between India's thoughts, we are taken on a journey through New Mexico (a magical place whether in person or on paper when Barbara Samuel is writing about it) which is a reflection of an earlier journey when India and her sister Gypsy were children. Love is my favorite thing to read about, but this is not a romance novel. It's deeper and shinier and has a sharper, meatier edge to it. And it also has a warmth that wraps around you like a soft, thick afghan as you read each word, each page, each chapter.

If this sounds mysterious it's because I want you to read this book and experience it yourself. All of Barbara Samuel's books have been incredible to me, and this will not disappoint those of you who are already fans. Those of you who haven't tried her yet, please do. If you're disappointed, let me know and I'll send you an email apology. I don't expect to be sending any at all.

I'm always so impressed with Barbara Samuel's novels, and Lady Luck's Map of Vegas is no exception. Samuel, who lives in Colorado, writes about women in the western United States who may have had family problems, but resolve them, or find a way to live with them, by the end of the books. I checked out her website at www.barbarasamuel.com, and she has also written a number of romances, some under the name Ruth Wind. But her women's novels are the ones that impress me - No Place Like Home, A Piece of Heaven, The Goddesses of Kitchen Avenue, and, now Lady Luck's Map of Vegas.

Forty-year-old India is a successful web designer with a large circle of friends. She also has an Irish lover that she sees monthly, Eldora, her widowed mother who can be demanding, and a schizophrenic twin sister who disappers into the unknown periodically. And, she's pregnant.

When India's mother wants to take Route 66 from Colorado Springs to Las Vegas, she reluctantly agrees to accompany her, fleeing the truth and her own doubts about her pregnancy. As they hunt for Gypsy, India's sister, along the route, Eldora reaches into her own past to reveal secrets she has covered up about her life.

Once again, Barbara Samuel has written of two women coming to terms with the results of their own actions. It's a strong, beautiful novel.

This was the first Samuel book I've read and it was terrific! India and Gypsy are twins; one is schizophrenic and missing. Their mother, Eldora, asks India to take her to Las Vegas to find her. Not only do the two women go on a adventurous road trip but also down memory lane and the past comes alive for Eldora. India's lover, Jack O'Shea, is an Irish hottie and around for the duration. Don't miss out on this novel!

This fast-paced novel takes mother and daughter, Eldora and India, down Route 66 in search of India's schizophrenic twin sister, Gypsy. India is not pleased to leave her work and long distance lover, Jack, to take her mother on a road trip down memory lane in her mother's cherished 1957 Thunderbird. But she promised her father before his death that she would take care of her mother, and so she agrees to the trip hoping that the time on the road will help her to reconcile issues in her own life and also to help her make the most important decision of her life. Eldora, who has been living with the regrets and mistakes she made many, many years ago, wants to make peace with one daughter as she searches for the other one. Eldora is faced with revealing her true self to India and in the process risks losing her daughter forever. Both India and Eldora each tell their own story as they travel the same fateful route they took several years ago and try to reconcile their past to their present and dare to hope for a future but ultimately discover that in life and love there are no guarantees.

***** I thoroughly enjoyed Barbara Samuel's heartwarming story of a mother and daughter who both dare to risk their current tolerable relationship for a chance to really understand one another. The realness of these two characters makes the reader feel deeply connected with what both India and Eldora are facing. This novel needs to be a movie because India and Eldora's stories would be wonderful played out on the big screen. I highly recommend taking this real and endearing and ultimately hopeful journey with India and Eldora along Route 66. *****

Reviewed by Barbara Stabler.

This is a very fun read. I enjoyed the information in the book as well as just a chuckle from time to time.

Never judge a book by its cover is so true of titles and the characters in this book untill you get to know them. Barbara Samuels writes a wonderful story about people you really care about and want to know better.

One of Samuel's best. This book made me laugh out loud and cry, the need a box of Kleenex, don't try reading on the elliptical kind of cry. I read it on one day and immediately wanted to read it again. The realness of the characters amazed me. I felt like I knew these people. I loved this book!

Forty years old computer designer India misses her single life in Denver having to relocate to Colorado Springs to take care of her mother Eldora whose beloved mate died six months ago. India enjoys her long distance love life when she and her beloved New York based magazine owner Jack Shea get together.

Flaky Eldora wants to go on a pilgrimage to Las Vegas where she plans to reveal the truth about herself to her adult children, but first must find her other daughter Gypsy, an artist whose last postcard came from Tucuncari, New Mexico. India does not want to go, but feels obligated having vowed to her late father Don Redding she would take care of mom. Worse India senses her sibling; a schizophrenic is off her medicine and in trouble. Finally, she is pregnant, but has doubts about bringing a child into the world containing her gene pool. This pilgrimage will awaken India to what really matters in life are loving relationships.

LADY LUCK'S MAP OF VEGAS is a complex family drama that mostly focuses on India and her relationships with her boyfriend, mother and sister, but to a lesser degree with her dad and between her mom and sib. Readers feel for India who fears commitment to include her concerns about allowing a newborn into this world. Though the reason for Eldora's obsession to venture forth is revealed late, readers who appreciate a strong poignant look at people with baggage in which there is no simplistic cure all elixir. Barbara Samuel provides an affecting tale that shakes the audience to its emotional core.

Harriet Klausner