Never Coming Back
by Alison McGhee
Resolution (10/29/2017)
Alison McGhee realistically conveys the discomfort of waiting for lucid moments to make a connection with a loved one with a loss of intellectual capacity. The pacing of this book mirrors this experience requiring some patience, patience which is rewarded in the thoughtful writing and in a realistic resolution.
After a distressing breakup with her high school love, Clara is pushed by her mother, Tamar, to go away to college. She flees brokenhearted and angry toward her headstrong and tight-lipped mother. As early onset dementia strikes her mother, Clara returns.
This should be a time for forgiveness and coming to terms with the past, but Clara has said things in anger that she cannot take back, and her mother remains obscured by past silence and current confusion. Slowly Clara attempts to peel away the past, address her anger, fears and desires.
The Rebellion of Miss Lucy Ann Lobdell
by William Klaber
Questions but no Answers (12/23/2014)
Interesting idea, but I wanted the author to delve more deeply into the main character. I did not feel like I really understood his motivations. Were they based on gender identity, sexual preference or frustration with the lack of control and opportunity for women. Was the author implying that her change in attire and manner encouraged a change in sexual appetites?
Mating for Life
by Marissa Stapley
Finding Their Own Way (4/18/2014)
Helen, capable and independent, and her three adult daughters meet every summer at their lake house. Each must do some soul searching regarding their romantic relationship. Warm and insightful, their stories are told in chapters that are almost complete unto themselves, until they come together determining what really matters in each of their lives and what mating for life means to them. Stapley begins each chapter with information about the mating habits of a species which is reflected in some way in the lives of her characters, who are entertaining, funny and perceptive.
The Shock of The Fall: (originally published in hardcover in USA as Where the Moon Isn't)
by Nathan Filer
Where the Moon Isn't (10/29/2013)
Matt spills out his painful story in fits and starts both of insight and delusion. His struggle to come to terms with his reality is believably portrayed. I was reminded of Paddy Clarke Ha-ha-ha by Roddy Doyle.
The Edge of Normal
by Carla Norton
The Edge of Normal by Carla Norton (7/25/2013)
Bestselling true crime author Carla Norton delivers her first novel, The Edge of Normal. After four-years of captivity and six-years of therapy, twenty-two year old Reeve LeClaire decides to help when a thirteen-year-old girl is rescued from a year of imprisonment. Avoiding many of the gritty details of what these victims suffered at the hands of their captors, Norton draws a complex character striving to recover her life despite intrusions from the public, the media and law enforcement. Timely and compelling, this book should have wide appeal. Even the anticipated final showdown kept me on the edge of my seat.
Before the Poison
by Peter Robinson
The Hippocratic Oath (1/2/2012)
Robinson successfully draws the reader into this mystery from the past. The use of trial reports , Grace's diary along with Chris's own past combine with the narrative effectively. The contemporary story provides a vehicle for the very interesting look at the war time story.
Man in the Woods
by Scott Spencer
What Makes the Man? (7/31/2010)
Paul, a self sufficient artist, and Kate, a Christian author and inspirational speaker, seem to complete one another and provide a refuge for Kate’s daughter Ruby. But a moment of crisis threatens their happiness. Scott Spencer imagines authentic characters reacting to a disastrous moment of violence. Spencer’s writing is visceral, sensitive and thought provoking.
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