LADY LUCK'S MAP OF VEGAS

Author: Barbara Samuel ISBN: 0345469135 8/2006 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: BALLANTINE

A successful Web designer, forty-year-old India has a fabulously hip life in Denver and a sexy Irish lover in New York who jets out to see her on bi-weekly visits. The long-distance romance suits India just fine: Though Jack is the only man who has ever made India feel truly alive, she doesn’t want things to get too serious. But then her father passes away, and India must honor the promise she made to him: to look after her mother when he’s gone. Suddenly India finds herself back in Colorado Springs with the woman who both intrigues and infuriates her. Eldora is sixty something and exquisitely gorgeous, but her larger-than-life personality can suck the air out of a room. True to form, Eldora throws India a curveball, insisting that they hit the road to look for India’s twin, Gypsy, a brilliant artist who lives a vagabond’s existence in the remote mountain towns of New Mexico. It looks like India can’t avoid her mother’s intensity any longer, especially after she discovers stunning secrets from Eldora’s past. Thirty years ago, Eldora regaled her twin girls with glamorous stories about her days as a Las Vegas showgirl– stories of martinis and music at the Sahara, back when Frank and Sammy ruled the town. But the story of how she really ended up in Sin City, and the unsavory life she’d run from with her daughters in tow, is full of details she’s never seen fit to share–until now. As mother and daughter sail down Route 66, the very road Eldora drove those many years ago, looking for Gypsy, while passing motels, diners, and souvenir shops, Eldora must relive a lifetime of memories that have tormented her before she can put them to rest once and for all. . . .

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Barbara Samuel pens a poignant story between a mother and her daughter in LADY LUCK'S MAP OF VEGAS. There are secrets to be revealed and major life decisions to be made between Eldora and her forty year-old daughter, India. Although a good portion of this story focuses on India, it is the revealing of Eldora's life that stands out.

This story takes on a life of its own very early on. Eldora and India's road trip on Route 66 turns into a journey of self-discovery and eventual forgiveness. Eldora's confessions about her life when she was younger send India into an emotional tailspin. Not only does India have to deal with what her mother is telling her, she is also dealing with her own personal problems. If that's not enough for both of them to handle, they are also searching for Gypsy, Eldora's daughter and India's sister. Gypsy has a history of mental disease and it's imperative that they find her.

At times there seems to be so much going on in LADY LUCK'S MAP OF VEGAS. Between Eldora's confessions to India, we are also witness to her flashbacks of her days in Las Vegas. Also, India is dealing with an unexpected pregnancy in a long distance, non-commitment type of relationship. There is also Gypsy's storyline and how her mental illness affected her and her family. Much to my surprise, Samuel manages to tie together all the loose ends of this story to make the final outcome one of new beginnings and happy endings.

LADY LUCK'S MAP OF VEGAS is an inspiring story that proves how strong the bonds of a family can be.

Julie Kornhausl