A newfound friendship galvanizes three women into exploring their late mothers’ pasts.
Elise Armstrong is just “not feelin’ Namaste” at her weekly yoga class when her less than enthusiastic performance catches the attention of her classmates Carmen Bradshaw and DeeDee Davis, who also seem to be struggling with finding their Zen. When they decide to grab dinner at a Mexican restaurant after class, they discover that all three are grappling with the grief left in the wakes of their mothers’ deaths—Elise’s mother, Marie Wade; Carmen’s mother, Joan Bradshaw; and DeeDee’s mother, Laura O’Neill. All of the women are still in the process of going through their mothers' possessions, and each is hesitant to dive into the past for varying reasons. Marie was a collector—of African masks, 10 sets of china, five distinct collections of jewelry—and Elise is overwhelmed with the prospect of picking through it all. Laura struggled with bipolar disorder throughout DeeDee’s childhood, and DeeDee is not only dealing with the fear that her free-spirited daughter, Frances, has inherited her grandmother’s mental illness, but she is loath to unearth more of Laura’s inner turmoil. Joan was a preacher’s wife who lived a quiet life, and Carmen doesn’t imagine she’ll find any evidence to the contrary in her mother’s old things. But when Elise, DeeDee, and Carmen agree to help each other wade through these items, they grow closer to each other and to the women their mothers really were. Flashback chapters from Joan’s perspective prior to Carmen’s birth as well as diary entries written by Laura during DeeDee’s adolescence give further insight into the ways each mother’s experience intersects and contrasts with those of her daughter in the present day.
A moving examination of the complexities of motherhood and the strength of female friendship.Pub Date: June 9, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-293422-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Amistad/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
Categories: FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP | GENERAL FICTION
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
When a family convenes at their Cape Cod summer home for a wedding, old secrets threaten to ruin everything.
Sarah Danhauser is shocked when her beloved stepdaughter announces her engagement to her boyfriend, Gabe. After all, Ruby’s only 22, and Sarah suspects that their relationship was fast-tracked because of the time they spent together in quarantine during the early days of the pandemic. Sarah’s mother, Veronica, is thrilled, mostly because she longs to have the entire family together for one last celebration before she puts their Cape Cod summer house on the market. But getting to Ruby and Gabe’s wedding might prove more difficult than anyone thought. Sarah can’t figure out why her husband, Eli, has been so distant and distracted ever since Ruby moved home to Park Slope (bringing Gabe with her), and she's afraid he may be having an affair. Veronica is afraid that a long-ago dalliance might come back to bite her. Ruby isn’t sure how to process the conflicting feelings she’s having about her upcoming nuptials. And Sam, Sarah’s twin brother, is a recent widower who’s dealing with some pretty big romantic confusion. As the entire extended family, along with Gabe’s relatives, converges on the summer house, secrets become impossible to keep, and it quickly becomes clear that this might not be the perfect gathering Veronica was envisioning. If they make it to the wedding, will their family survive the aftermath? Weiner creates a story with all the misunderstandings and miscommunications of a screwball comedy or a Shakespeare play (think A Midsummer Night’s Dream). But the surprising, over-the-top actions of the characters are grounded by a realistic and moving look at grief and ambition (particularly for Sarah and Veronica, both of whom give up demanding creative careers early on). At times the flashbacks can slow down the story, but even when the characters are lying, cheating, and hiding from each other, they still seem like a real and loving family.
An alternately farcical and poignant look at family bonds.Pub Date: May 10, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5011-3357-2
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
Categories: FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP | LITERARY FICTION
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With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.
14
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After being released from prison, a young woman tries to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter despite having killed the girl’s father.
Kenna didn’t even know she was pregnant until after she was sent to prison for murdering her boyfriend, Scotty. When her baby girl, Diem, was born, she was forced to give custody to Scotty’s parents. Now that she’s been released, Kenna is intent on getting to know her daughter, but Scotty’s parents won’t give her a chance to tell them what really happened the night their son died. Instead, they file a restraining order preventing Kenna from so much as introducing herself to Diem. Handsome, self-assured Ledger, who was Scotty’s best friend, is another key adult in Diem’s life. He’s helping her grandparents raise her, and he too blames Kenna for Scotty’s death. Even so, there’s something about her that haunts him. Kenna feels the pull, too, and seems to be seeking Ledger out despite his judgmental behavior. As Ledger gets to know Kenna and acknowledges his attraction to her, he begins to wonder if maybe he and Scotty’s parents have judged her unfairly. Even so, Ledger is afraid that if he surrenders to his feelings, Scotty’s parents will kick him out of Diem’s life. As Kenna and Ledger continue to mourn for Scotty, they also grieve the future they cannot have with each other. Told alternatively from Kenna’s and Ledger’s perspectives, the story explores the myriad ways in which snap judgments based on partial information can derail people’s lives. Built on a foundation of death and grief, this story has an undercurrent of sadness. As usual, however, the author has created compelling characters who are magnetic and sympathetic enough to pull readers in. In addition to grief, the novel also deftly explores complex issues such as guilt, self-doubt, redemption, and forgiveness.
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2560-7
Page Count: 335
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
Categories: ROMANCE | FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP | CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE | GENERAL ROMANCE | GENERAL FICTION
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