This is an engrossing tale of three generations of women living in Urbana, Illinois.  All three lead unsatisfied lives, but seem to settle for what they have.  Evelyn, the grandmother, loved teaching history but put her ambitions aside when she married and had children.  Laura, Evelyn’s daughter, marries a man she feels is different than those she grew up with yet eventually realizes he is just an angry man who drinks too much.  Grace, Laura’s daughter, wants an exciting, fulfilling life but can’t seem to leave her hometown or her dreary job working in a health food grocery.  Evelyn, Laura and Grace at first glance seem to be three very different women, but actually they are quite similar, repeating the same mistakes for three generations.

I thoroughly enjoyed A Cloud in the Shape of a Girl.  It immediately captured me with its empathetic realistic female characters.