Grief Tag Archives

19 May, 2013

Contemporary, Mystery, reviews

Grief, Kidnapping, Loss, Tucker

Book Review: Mending the Moon by Susan Palwick

Mending the Moon by Susan Palwick

Method of Obtaining: I received an advance copy from the publisher.
Published by: Tor
Release Date: 5.14.2013

Melinda Soto, aged sixty-four, vacationing in Mexico, is murdered by a fellow American tourist.

Back in her hometown of Reno, Nevada, she leaves behind her adopted son, Jeremy, whom she rescued from war-torn Guatamala when he was a toddler—just one of her many causes over the years. And she leaves behind a circle of friends: Veronique, the academic stuck in a teaching job from which she can’t retire; Rosemary, who’s losing her husband to Alzheimer’s and who’s trying to lose herself in volunteer work; Henrietta, the priest at Rosemary’s and Melinda’s church.

Jeremy already had a fraught relationship with his charismatic mother and the people in her orbit. Now her death is tearing him apart, and he can barely stand the rituals of remembrance that ensue among his mother’s friends. Then the police reveal who killed Melinda: a Seattle teenager who flew home to his parents and drowned himself just days later.

It’s too much. Jeremy’s not the only one who can’t deal. Friendships fray. But the unexpected happens: an invitation to them all, from the murderer’s mother, to come to Seattle for his memorial. It’s ridiculous. And yet, somehow, each of them begins to see in it a chance to heal. Aided, in peculiar ways, by Jeremy’s years-long obsession with the comic-book hero Comrade Cosmos, and the immense cult of online commentary it’s spawned.

Shot through with feeling and inventiveness, this is a novel of the odd paths that lead to home.

I also recommend:

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
The Girl with Glass Feet by Ali Shaw

My Review:

When I received Mending the Moon by Susan Palwick from Tor, I have to admit, I was taken in by the pretty packaging. It’s beautifully bound, has a gorgeous, simple cover, and I wanted to pick it up and read it right away. So I read the inside description and I was immediately moved from interested to confused. Tor is well-known for publishing fantasy and sci-fi (through the Forge imprint) so what was a book about grief and murder doing in my hands?

I almost let it get to me. Almost. So let this be a lesson – don’t let first impressions get the better of you.

What I found in this book were many, many good things. First, it’s smart writing. I’m graduating from a small, liberal arts college this Saturday, and the descriptions in this book (from both students and teacher’s perspective) of college life are spot on. Especially the literary class descriptions. In fact, I found myself wanting to take a course that was described and it actually gave me a research bug of my own. But it’s not all the school part that is the smart writing – it’s all just intelligent, good, solid, story-telling.

Secondly, there is never any promise about answers. Because that is not what this book is about – the jacket flap will tell you that much. Instead, through a rather genius way, the story is told through a mirror. That mirror? The medium of a comic-book-type set of heroes created by four computer science kids. It’s actually quite brilliant… and once I understood what was happening the Tor publisher clicked for me.

What I love most about this book was it reminded me that fantasy fiction isn’t all high fantasy or urban fantasy. It also includes comic book heroes, Korean dramas, Japanese manga… you name it. Fantasy is fantasy – it’s taking real life and seeing it through unusual means. And it doesn’t require a dragon – a comic book hero works quite as well.

7 May, 2013

Contemporary, Fantasy, reviews

Comics, Grief, Heroes, Murder, Palwick

Book Review: Those We Love Most by Lee Woodruff

Those We Love Most by Lee Woodruff

Method of Obtaining: I received my copy via the publisher.
Published by: Hyperion
Release Date: 9/11/2012

ife is good for Maura Corrigan. Married to her college sweetheart, Pete, raising three young kids with her parents nearby in her peaceful Chicago suburb, her world is secure. Then one day, in a single turn of fate, that entire world comes crashing down and everything that she thought she knew changes.

Maura must learn to move forward with the weight of grief and the crushing guilt of an unforgivable secret. Pete senses a gap growing between him and his wife but finds it easier to escape to the bar with his friends than face the flaws in his marriage.

Meanwhile, Maura’s parents are dealing with the fault lines in their own marriage. Charismatic Roger, who at sixty-five, is still chasing the next business deal and Margaret, a pragmatic and proud homemaker, have been married for four decades, seemingly happily. But the truth is more complicated. Like Maura, Roger has secrets of his own and when his deceptions and weaknesses are exposed, Margaret’s love and loyalty face the ultimate test.

Reason for Reading:

I enjoy a good, family drama.

I recommend:

The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
Stiltsville by Susanna Daniel

My Review:

I really, really wanted to read Those We Love Most by Lee Woodruff – mostly because I enjoy a good drama centered around the overcoming of a tragedy. So when I saw the summary and the author combination here I couldn’t wait to crack it open and get emotionally involved.

There were things that Woodruff did extremely well in Those We Love Most – those being the tension between family, the struggle to put the pieces back together, the vulnerability after walls come down in grief. I felt intimately connected to every member of the family at different moments throughout the book. But in spite of that intimate connection, I still felt as if I was held at arms length.

I think ultimately where the breakdown occurred was in the number of people Those We Love Most dealt with. There were some family members who were on the outskirts, just barely into the story and, as a result, made me feel as if I was still a stranger to what was going on – but the juxtiposition then of having other family members bared completely to me made me feel as if I wasn’t a stranger. So ultimately I ended up slightly confused and unable to connect. I just can’t think of a better way to put it.

I still recommend reading this book – I think it has some important messages on dealing with grief and guilt, and what happens when trust starts to fracture. I just wish it had been easier for me to connect with.

Don’t just take my word for it! Check out what these bloggers say!

Booking Mama| Unconventional Librarian| Reads for Pleasure

28 September, 2012

Contemporary, reviews, Social Issues

Coping, family, Grief, Woodruff

Book Review: The Whipping Club by Deborah Henry

The Whipping Club by Deborah Henry

Method of Obtaining: I received my copy from the publisher via TLC Book Tours.
Published by: T.S. Poetry Press
Release Date: 2/15/2012

Marian McKeever and Ben Ellis are not typical young lovers in 1957 Dublin, Ireland; she’s Catholic and teaches at Zion School, and he’s Jewish and a budding journalist. The two plan to wed, but their families object to an interfaith marriage. And when Marian becomes pregnant, she doesn’t tell Ben. Coerced by Father Brennan (a Catholic priest who is also her uncle), Marian goes to Castleboro Mother Baby Home, an institution ruled by Sister Paulinas and Sister Agnes where “sins are purged” via abuse; i.e., pregnant girls are forced to mow the lawn by pulling grass on their hands and knees. Marian is told that her son, Adrian, will be adopted by an American family. The riveting storyline provides many surprises as it fast-forwards to 1967 where Marian and Ben are married and have a 10-year-old daughter. Marian’s painful secret emerges when she learns that her son was dumped in an abusive orphanage not far from her middle-class home and Sister Agnes is his legal guardian. Thus begins a labyrinthine journey through red tape as the couple fight to regain their firstborn child. Ultimately, 12-year-old Adrian is placed in the Surtane Industrial School for Boys, which is rife with brutality and sexual abuse at the hands of “Christian Brother Ryder.” Though unchecked church power abounds, this is not a religious stereotype or an indictment of faith. Hateful characters like Brother Ryder are balanced with compassionate ones, such as a timid nurse from the Mother Baby Home. Father Brennan deepens into a three-dimensional character who struggles to do what is right. Henry weaves multilayered themes of prejudice, corruption and redemption with an authentic voice and swift, seamless dialogue. Her prose is engaging, and light poetic touches add immediacy. For example, when Marian returned to Mother Baby Home after 11 years, she “opened the car door and stepped onto the gravel, wanting to quiet its crunch, like skeletons underneath her shoes.” Echoing the painful lessons of the Jewish Holocaust, Henry’s tale reveals what happens when good people remain silent.

Reason for Reading:

The title – it’s quite the eye-catching one.

I also recommend:

When We Were Strangers by Pamela Schoenewaldt
East of Eden by John Steinbeck

My Review:

I attempted to read The Whipping Club a few months ago, but the edition I had made it difficult to follow and, unfortunately, I had to DNF it. So I was happy when I received a hard copy of the book and was able to read it without all of the false stops and starts the e-copy I had gave me.

In The Whipping Club, Henry moves us between past and present and the lives of Marian, Ben, and their children Adrian and Jo. There’s just a little bit of everything in this book to make it a hard, heavy read – religious tensions, abuse, rape, forced adoption, neglect, family tensions … you name it. As a result, I really struggled with wanting to pick up the story. Not because it wasn’t written or paced well, mind you, but just because the subject matter was so darn heavy and I was dying throughout the book for just a glimpse of hope. Just a glimpse.

I think this book has a lot to recommend it to book clubs – there is enough material in it to give fodder for multiple, serious discussions. But if you are wanting a feel goodl, all’s well that ends well, story then this isn’t the one for you. In addition, keep in mind that even with the improved format in hard copy (and the e-copy is probably fine too, I had received an advance copy) that it’s still difficult to transition between past and present as there were no real boundaries throughout the book, so engage actively with the text for sure.

About the Author

Deborah Henry attended American College in Paris and graduated cum laude from Boston University with a minor in French language and literature. She received her MFA in creative writing at Fairfield University and has the passionate support of many first-class novelists including Jacquelyn Mitchard, Pulitzer prize winner Robert Olen Butler, Da Chen, Michael White, Martine Bellen, Caroline Leavitt, Dawn Tripp Susan Henderson and Irishman Thomas Cooke, Emmy-award winning writer and director. Her first review of THE WHIPPING CLUB, a Kirkus Review earned a Kirkus Star. Deborah is an active member of The Academy of American Poets, a board member of CavanKerry Press and a patron of the Irish Arts Center in New York.

Website | Facebook | Twitter

For more reviews on The Whipping Club by Deborah Henry,

please visit the book tour.

What Happened to My Sister Giveaway

4 September, 2012

Historical, reviews, Social Issues

2 comments

Catholicism, Grief, Henry, Ireland, Judaism, Orphanages

Book Review: What Happened to My Sister by Elizabeth Flock

What Happened to My Sister by Elizabeth Flock

Method of Obtaining: I received my copy from the publisher via TLC Book Tours.
Published by: Ballentine Books
Release Date: 8/7/2012

Nine-year-old Carrie Parker and her mother, Libby, are making a fresh start in the small town of Hartsville, North Carolina, ready to put their turbulent past behind them. Violence has shattered their family and left Libby nearly unable to cope. And while Carrie once took comfort in her beloved sister, Emma, her mother has now forbidden even the mention of her name.

When Carrie meets Ruth, Honor, and Cricket Chaplin, these three generations of warmhearted women seem to have the loving home Carrie has always dreamed of. But as Carrie and Cricket become fast friends, neither can escape the pull of their families’ secrets—and uncovering the truth will transform the Chaplins and the Parkers forever.

Look for special features inside. Join the Circle for author chats and more.

Reason for Reading:

The summary caught my eye.

I also recommend:

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
Don’t Breathe a Word by Jennifer McMahon

My Review:

This book blew me away. In a very good way. What Happened to My Sister by Elizabeth Flock is the continuation of a story titled Emma and Me, but I did not know that. I had never read anything by Flock, and picked up What Happened to My Sister knowing very little about it.

That did not at all distract from the powerful impact this book had on me.

It always astonishes me when authors are able to really get inside the head of young, abused girls. Carrie, or Caroline, has been abused in nearly every way you can imagine, and she is so beat down by those who are supposed to love and care for her, that when she speaks so politely or matter-of-factly about eating paper with ketchup that my heart just aches and aches for her. I found myself wondering if I would be able to recognize her, like Honor, the other main character in this book.

What Happened to My Sister moves between two narratives, but doesn’t take the traditional route of alternating chapters. The story goes on through as many chapters needed for Carrie before moving to Honor and picking up – so instead of feeling disjointed, it moves smoothly through the timeline. It worked so amazingly well, people.

It’s hard to gush and recommend a book like this without wondering how it will impact others who pick it up – so let me warn you. The story here is of some really heavy matter. It will bruise, if not break your heart, to read Carrie’s story. It’s not a light, or humorous read – but it’s a book that should be read and discussed. It made me examine my own heart, and opened my eyes, and has given me a nudge to start seeing those around me in public places. The Carrie’s of our world are out there, and they need as much help as they can get.

About the Author

Former print journalist Elizabeth Flock reported for TIME and PEOPLE magazines before becoming an on-air correspondent for CBS News. Her acclaimed debut novel, BUT INSIDE I’M SCREAMING, chronically the psychological struggles of a young television reporter in New York, was released in 2003. Her second novel, ME & EMMA, became a New York Times bestseller and was an Indiebound (formerly Booksense) Notable Book of 2005. EVERYTHING MUST GO, Elizabeth’s third novel, loosely based on a clothing store in Connecticut, was published in 2007. Elizabeth’s books have been translated into seven languages and published in twelve countries.
Her fourth novel, SLEEPWALKING IN DAYLIGHT, came out in 2009, and was chosen as an Indie Next List (formerly Booksense) title. WHAT HAPPENED TO MY SISTER, a follow-up to ME & EMMA, will be published by Random House on August 7, 2012.
Elizabeth Flock lives in New York City.

For more reviews on What Happened to My Sister by Elizabeth Flock,

please visit the book tour.

GIVEAWAY!

The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison

29 August, 2012

Contemporary, reviews, Social Issues

5 comments

Abuse, Alcoholism, Death, family, Flock, Grief

The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison

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Reason for Reading:

This one caught my eye from the few reviews I’d seen.

I also recommend:

Home to Woefield by Susan Juby
You Are My Only by Beth Kephart

Summary from GoodReads:

Benjamin Benjamin has lost virtually everything-his wife, his family, his home, his livelihood. With few options, Ben enrolls in a night class called The Fundamentals of Caregiving in the basement of a local church. There Ben is instructed in the art of inserting catheters and avoiding liability, about professionalism, and how to keep physical and emotional distance between client and provider.

But when Ben is assigned to tyrannical nineteen-year-old Trev, in the advanced stages of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, he soon discovers that the endless mnemonics and service plan checklists have done little to prepare him for the reality of caring for a fiercely stubborn, sexually frustrated adolescent with an ax to grind with the world at large.

Though begun with mutual misgivings, the relationship between Trev and Ben evolves into a close camaraderie and the traditional boundaries between patient and caregiver begin to blur as they embark on a road trip across the American West to visit Trev’s ailing father. A series of must-see roadside attractions sidetrack them into an adventure highlighted by one birth, two arrests, a freakish dust storm, and a six-hundred-mile cat-and-mouse pursuit by a mysterious brown Buick Skylark.

My Review:

With The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving I was treated to a somewhat snarky, somewhat endearing, and fully heart-breaking story as I followed Benjamin Benjamin (yes, you read that right) through the passage of healing from a terrible tragedy.

Benjamin’s life is pretty much in shambles, and now he has completed his training to take care of folks in need in their homes – and as a result fortune favors him with a young man with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Their meeting was fortuitous … for both.

With enough humor to take what would have otherwise been a dismal story, Jonathan Evison weaves the story of Benjamin’s present and past into a story that had me flipping pages quickly. There was crude humor (but really hilarious stuff) and enough touching moments that I actually said “aww” out loud and had to catch my breath before I started to cry.

Evison gives us a full cast of characters, ranging from the teenage runaway, to the ex-wife, to the strange neighbor lady and her pets. There’s high speed chases, road-trips, family bonding, and accidents that will make your heart seize up as you consider the implications of it all.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and it’s not often I recommend a book by a male author for one of those beachy, summer reads but I think that The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving is easily one of those books I can recommend for just that.

Don’t just take my word for it! Check out what these bloggers say!

Nefarious Fiddlesticks| Bookreporter

The publisher provided this review copy via NetGalley.
Published by: Alonquin Books of Chapel Hill
Release Date: 8/28/2012

3 August, 2012

Comedy, Contemporary, reviews, Social Issues

Caregiving, Divorce, Evison, Grief

Americans in Space by Mary E. Mitchell

Americans in Space by Mary E. Mitchell

Order from:

Reason for Reading:

This is one of the books for my 2012 TBR Reading Challenge

I also recommend:

Home to Woefield by Susan Juby
Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe McCall

Summary from GoodReads:

Life is a challenge for 36-year-old Kate Cavanaugh, high school guidance counselor to a motley group of at-risk students. Two years after finding her young husband dead in bed beside her, Kate’s storybook life has vanished, and she and her two children are still reeling. Her daughter Charlotte, once a sweet girl, has morphed into an angry, tattooed, tongue-studded teen; and Hunter, Kate’s four-year-old, keeps his feelings sealed tight inside and an empty ketchup bottle clasped to his heart. When a tragedy occurs at the Alan B. Shepard High School, it’s Kate who finds herself in need of counsel and guidance. What she does next catapults her and her family down an unfamiliar road, on a trajectory into space—toward understanding, forgiveness and healing.

My Review:

I have had Americans in Space on my TBR pile for over two years now. When culling through some of my selections from that time I decided, on a whim, to keep this one because the title fascinated me. No other reason- I just liked the title. So, when picking books for a TBR yearly challenge for the blog I put this one on the list – again, because I liked the name.

I’ve read quite a few books on loss and grief and recovery. I consider myself to be a fairly good judge of when a book is getting it right, because I get this feeling in my gut – you know, the one that feels like you’ve just been kicked? Well.. my gut is bruised from reading this book.

I don’t know which characters story affected me more, but I’m telling you right now: mother-daughter tension – check; mother-son confusion – check. This book has just about everything, from dependencies to rebellion to recovery and learning to live life again.

So what kept me from making it one of my all-time favorite books? My issue isn’t with the characters, the writing, or the story – it’s that the book was released with several glaring issues in editing. There are words that… well aren’t words, and phrases that don’t end correctly. I found one sentence that looked like it stopped mid-sentence and another latter half of a different sentence was pieced on to its end. That made me feel discouraged – that these things could crop up and mar my enjoyment. And frankly, for a professional book (Editor and all) they should not have been there.

Don’t just take my word for it! Check out what these bloggers say!

Genre Go Round | Musings at a Picnic | BlogCritics

21 July, 2012

Coming of Age, Contemporary, reviews, Social Issues

Death, Family Relationships, Grief, Mitchell, Rebellion

Irises by Francisco X. Stork

Irises by Francisco X. Stork

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Reason for Reading:

Francisco X. Stork made me a fan with Marcelo in the Real World

I also recommend:

Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork

Summary from GoodReads:

TWO SISTERS: Kate is bound for Stanford and an M.D. — if her family will let her go. Mary wants only to stay home and paint. When their loving but repressive father dies, they must figure out how to support themselves and their mother, who is in a permanent vegetative state, and how to get along in all their uneasy sisterhood.

THREE YOUNG MEN: Then three men sway their lives: Kate’s boyfriend Simon offers to marry her, providing much-needed stability. Mary is drawn to Marcos, though she fears his violent past. And Andy tempts Kate with more than romance, recognizing her ambition because it matches his own.

ONE AGONIZING CHOICE: Kate and Mary each find new possibilities and darknesses in their sudden freedom. But it’s Mama’s life that might divide them for good — the question of *if* she lives, and what’s worth living for.

My Review:

Here’s what I love about Francisco X. Stork: He writes inspirational stories without feeling the need to preach.

I saw it in Marcelo in the Real World, then again in The Last Summer of the Death Warriors, and now… he completely turns away from the male-focused stories and focuses instead on two girls, sisters, ages 16 and 18, and manages to write with such an honest and clear voice I found my heartstrings being tugged at again and again.

While I didn’t love this story as much as I loved Marcelo and Summer, I still found it had honest merit, and I could relate to it. I grew up in a fairly restricted environment, and my sympathies were definitely inclined toward the sisters.. but I also found myself disbelieving some things as well – such as the scenes with the new, young pastor. It just seemed a bit far-fetched and strange to me, and that’s what kept me from overly gushing at this book – but still it had a quiet sort of beauty that made me glad to have read it, and once again I was proven right in my love for Mr. Stork.

Don’t just take my word for it! Check out what these bloggers say!

Justin’s Book Blog

My Friend Amy

14 May, 2012

Coming of Age, reviews, Young Adult

Coming of Age, Grief, Ministry, Stork

Whatever You Love by Louise Doughty

Whatever You Love by Louise Doughty

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Reason for Reading:

I’m always up for reading books up for awards.

I also recommend:

The House at Riverton by Kate Morton

Summary from GoodReads:

Longlisted for the Orange Prize and Shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award, Louise Doughty’s hauntingly beautiful investigation of love, loss, and revenge is a literary page-turner that will linger in your mind far after the cover closes. When a hit-and-run car crash claims Laura’s daughter Betty, her life is turned upside down. But when the courts rule the death an accident, the lines dividing justice from punishment will blur as Laura embarks on her own quest for vengeance. Sure to captivate fans of Antoinette van Heugten and Sophie Hannah, as well as readers of Doughty’s previous books Fires in the Dark and A Novel in a Year, among others, Whatever You Love is a poignant psychological story in which life’s greatest questions hang in the balance.

My Review:

This was a tough book for me. Filled with hauntingly beautiful descriptions, and gut-wrenching emotions, Whatever You Love tells the hard story of loss and picking up the pieces afterward.

Louise Doughty kept me guessing – even when the most horrific of events had passed (at the beginning of the book, no less), the story kept moving and twisting and turning in ways I could not predict. I sympathized with Laura and felt every bit of anger, despair, and desperation was not only warranted – but also necessary for her to deal with the injustice of what happened to her daughter.

Through and though, this story is filled with heavy, intense subject matter. There wasn’t a single moment in which I felt as if it let up – and that is the only real complaint I had. There was so much despair, and I desperately needed just a ray of hope, something that I felt wasn’t provided. So consider that my word of warning, this is not the book you want to read if you tend to go to the dark places easily and have a rough time coming out.

About the Author

Information regarding Louise Doughty:

Website

For more reviews on Whatever You Love by Louise Doughty, please follow the book tour.

5 April, 2012

Contemporary, reviews, Social Issues

1 comment

Car Accident, Doughty, Grief, Loss

Delicacy by David Foenkinos

Delicacy by David Foenkinos

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