Chapter Fifty-Four: Eva Moves the Furniture

Margot Livesey's Eva Moves the Furniture is a beautiful book about love and loss.  It tells the story of Eva, who throughout her life is visited by companions--a woman and a girl--whom only she can see.  Their nature and intentions are mysterious to Eva, and she alternately hates them and longs for them.  But the back of the book could tell you as much.  What I really want to say is that this is one of my favorite contemporary works for adults.  Eva is an excellent narrator: she has a unique voice and an interesting life.  The whole book is infused with a sort of calm, matter-of-fact-ness, even in times of war (the book is set in Scotland from the 1920s through the 1940s), which is very absorbing.  Indeed, I was always surprised to look up from my book and find myself in America in 2014.  Even though I've read this book many times before, I was still in tears at its fitting ending, and while it's a pretty quick read, the characters are the sort who linger with you after you've closed the book.  I highly recommend it.