By day, I'm a domestic violence prosecutor. By night, I read romance to restore my faith in love, relationships, and humanity in general.
I highly recommend this book for any woman on your shopping list: it is simply delightful. Turning each page is like browsing through an antique shop (only without the dust!): every page a beautiful feast of vintage ads, art, fashion, etc., and the plot, while almost an afterthought to the images, is powerful because of the economy of language necessitated by the scrapbook-style narration. I could read this again and again and again, and surely notice something new each time through.
*** Originally posted on GR December 2011.***