Cage of Stars (Jacquelyn Mitchard)

As I think I've written before, I enjoy Jacquelyn Mitchard's sagas, although they all have certain themes, which I sometimes find a bit tiring. Cage of Stars is her "Mormon" book, and if the information in it was accurate (and I don't see why it wouldn't be) I learnt a good deal that I didn't know about the Church of Latter Day Saints (or LDS as it's referred to in Cage of Stars.)

Ronnie witnesses her sisters' murder, and struggles for the rest of the novel with her parent's decision to forgive the perpetrator. It's an interesting dilemma to consider, of course, one brought to life whenever you see those ridiculous quotes in newspapers to the effect of "I don't believe in capital punishment but if it were my child..."

I enjoyed Ronnie, her alienation from her family, and in some ways from the rest of the world, due to her religious beliefs. The happy ending was a little too pat and unrealistic, as Mitchard's sometimes are, but I enjoyed it at the time - Ronnie travelled her path and comes to her reward, in the end.