Elizabeth Flock's "Me & Emma" is the kind of book that stays with you. It's the story of two sisters and the horrors of their childhood. It's the kind of novel that makes you want to go back and reread certain parts as soon as you finish it.

Tough to top, to say the least.

But, for me, Flock has done just that with "Sleepwalking in Daylight" (ISBN 978077832513)

In Sleepwalking we meet Samantha Friedman, a married mother who's questioning her marriage, her mothering skills, her very life, and her adopted daughter Cammy who's got her own struggles to handle and feels increasingly distanced from her mother.

Sam's dissatisfaction with her life leads her to honestly answer the stranger on a train who asks "Do you ever want to walk away from your life?"

Who hasn't asked themselves that question in a moment of stress? But for Sam it's much more than a moment.

As she says, "Cheating is a choice. ... Here is where I could turn things around and do the right thing. This is the moment I'll look back on as a defining one in my life. I should feel shaky or filled with fear and doubt and guilt. I should hesitate."

But, for Sam, her moment of clarity comes much later.

Flock has crafted a most believable cast of characters. Her dialogue reads like you're eavesdropping at a coffeehouse; it's that authentic.

If you're a fan of novels that provide a peek into the complicated world of mother-daughter and marital relationships, I highly recommend.

- Tricia Ambrose