Fictional Worlds

I've been thinking about fictional worlds, because I live in them a lot. When I'm writing a novel, I tend to live in the world of that novel, which is good. I carry it, the characters, the story line, with me all the time. But when I'm reading a novel that truly absorbs me, I live in the world of that novel. Sometimes the two worlds collide, which is what has happened now. I really should be living with my characters and their dilemmas but I'm off in the world of Mercy by Jodi Picoult. I put off reading it for a while, then opened it one night for a quick look before I passed it, mostly unread, to a friend--and zap! I was hooked. For one thing there's a strong Scottish element to it. The setting is a fictional town, Wheelock, Massachusetts, settled by a branch of the MacDonald Clan after the defeat of the clans at Culloden in the Highlands (1746). The current sheriff, Cam MacDonald, is also the clan chief, both titles having been handed down from his father, grandfather, etc. (I'm not sure this is verifiable, because I'm pretty sure somewhere, not necessarily in Scotland, there is a clan chief call the MacDonald of MacDonald--I'm a MacBain and there is a MacBain of MacBain in Arizona who is the chief of the clan).
Jamie MacDonald suffocates his wife, because she begs, pleads, insists--she is dying a slow, painful death from cancer--and she warns him not to quit, even if she fights, which she does. He does this in Wheelock, although he doesn't live there--but he's a MacDonald. Then he gives himself up to the sheriff/clan chief who is his cousin--the clan chief always protects clansmen, but will he in this case?
The novel is really all above love--Jamie has shown the ultimate degree of love, and Cam is sort of at the opposite pole. Married for five or six years but generally dissatisfied with his life, he meets a woman who inspires instant passion, the kind of "I can't keep my hands off" passion that I hope most folks have known at least once in their lives. He is tortured by guilt but too obsessed to turn away--although he does love his wife, Allie. And he doesn't want to have a thing to do with Jamie, but Allie takes up the relative's cause. A complicated story.
Don't ask me how it ends--I'm still in that world. But I recommend the book.
I'm looking forward to a long, lazy weekend--for one thing, I can finish that book and maybe get back to my novel. I've been drawn in by newspaper articles, etc., touting Fourth of July food, and whereas I promised dinner guests Sunday a light summer supper, I'm thinking they'll get hot dogs (Hebrew National), baked beans, and either cucumber salad or slaw, probably the latter. Oh, and of course, deviled eggs.
Happy Fourth everyone!