Jeffrey Zaslow has a remarkable ability to select a familiar topic—female friendship, for example, as in The Girls from Ames—and pursue that topic until he mines the diamonds, the stories, hidden beneath the surface. He displays this talent once again in The Magic Room: A Story About the Love We Wish for Our Daughters (Gotham, Jan.). I can guarantee that after reading this Room you’ll never again experience a wedding the same way again—you’ll be thinking instead of the well-known Becker’s Bridal in Fowler, Mich., the setting for this lovely, heartfelt work. Each personal story told by the mothers and daughters comes alive, as Becker’s reverberates with the sounds of laughter mixed with tears. Generations of former brides watch as new brides and their mothers join their special circle. As in real life, not all of these marriages end happily; but for this one day, for this one moment in the Magic Room, all is good. Thank you, Mr. Zaslow, for sharing your stories.