Customer Reviews

Tomorrow is Forever

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I read this book years ago when I was around 10 or 12 years old. I won't go into the plot because other reviewers have already done so, but this was a story that takes place between World War I and World War II. A woman's first husband is supposedly killed in the first war, but what got me was he wasn't killed -- he loved her so much he gave her up and had himself reported as killed -- because he did not want her to sacrifice her life waiting on and taking care of a cripple. I thought this was incredibly beautiful. There's also a chapter later in the book where her oldest son is about to go off to World War II and he asked the crippled German what was about and why we had to have war. This made an impression on me that I've never forgotten my entire life -- even though it applies strictly to the war with Hitler, I will always remember the part about when a child is killed (or murdered) the murderer is destroying the future. That child may have been the one to grow up and find a cure for cancer, or heart disease or whatever. Because the child was killed before having a chance to grow up we may never know what we've lost. Another way to put it is, if you kill a child, what if that child you killed was the one to grow up and maybe save the life of your own child. This made me realize how truly terrible prejudice and hatred can be and today I can't pick up a paper and read about something happening to a young child without thinking about this book and wondering what could have been. Believe me it's a truly remarkable book.

I first read this book in high school and looked many years for a copy as an adult. I re-read it and although it was a little dated I enjoyed both the story and the depiction of generational and gender views of war.

He'd always been Mr. Lucky, but now, some people think he is over the hill. Jack is investigating the one-million-dollar fraud. He says he can't remember who informed him of the political debauchery. Actually, he does remember but he made a pledge five years ago not to mention her name or admit that he does indeed know her. As we age, we do tend to forget names, but he will never forget hers or her voice. It's as though she is a ghost from the past. I'll remember April but won't smile...I'll be seeing you.

First, he claimed he'd escort the Hawaiian bus tour. Now, he's looking forward to the Hawaiian cruise next April. He might as well move to Hawaii, but I doubt that he will be going on either. Feinstein's (Happy Birthday, Michael Sept. 7) song, "Half of April, Most of May," spells it out very well. It's all pretense and deception. But how he will save the million dollars and the loss of a place from his past, he really hadn't worked it out yet. He had no idea that his boss in involved in the scheme, not only the million but also defrauding $150,000 in the process. Jack has never interfered in anything which could cause him to lose his job which he's had more than a decade.

It all depends on character. Some people are scrupulous, some aren't. The entrepreneurs Jack thought were so great proved to be criminals and some were caught and sentenced to prison. Is that the reason he's having so much trouble remembering names? With people like that, it is better not to get involved. He just can't trust anyone anymore. As he walks down the intricate staircase in the Agee mansion, he's trying to remember her name and how she knew about the crime before it was perpetrated. Is she clairvoyant or just plain foolish to think she can fight city hall.

We remember what we want to and, as we get older, we remember things not as they happened but as we wish they had. That's the sad part of old age. Everyone at one time or another forgets the painful experiences, as dwelling on them takes too much energy and causes anger and regret. Would she ever get over last April and be a powerhouse or will the hurt and pain cause her to give up completely. She gave him the pictures she had such pleasure taking. She hates what she used to love, but why involve him, he wonders. He listens but refuses to act. She's strong enought to fight her own battles. There is a reason she entered his life, and he will always remember yesterday. Life is confusing when you fall in love with a ghost.