Cam Lightsey is confused about what’s going on with her seventeen year old daughter, Aubrey. Though the two had been very close virtually Aubrey’s whole life, these days Aubrey is moody, secretive and just plain recalcitrant. Cam, a lactation consultant that some call “the boob whisperer” is not only dealing with Aubrey’s recent shift in behavior but also the resentment she still feels for her ex-husband, Martin. While Cam is running herself into the ground trying to get Aubrey ready to board a plane that will take her to college, Aubrey herself is learning that she isn’t exactly who she once thought she was and is undergoing a complete personality change. Although Cam and Aubrey are caught in the middle of a ferocious tug-of-war over control and expectations, neither can deny that they are both changing and moving away from each other. After an unexpected contact occurs between Martin and Aubrey, things begin to shift into overdrive between Cam and Aubrey. How can Cam make Aubrey see that college and breaking away are the most important things that will ever happen in her life when Aubrey refuses to speak to her? And how can Aubrey ever explain to her mother that she isn’t the girl she used to be and that her passions and interests have been dramatically altered? In this tale of a mother and daughter who can’t see eye to eye, Sarah Bird captures the struggle of a mother’s need to release her daughter to her own future and a daughter’s need to realistically assert her independence. At times sharp and always funny, Bird gives us a peek into the lives of a very headstrong pair of women and shows us that life can’t always be coordinated and prescribed as many think it can.Essentially this book is about the deep chasm that forms between a mother and daughter who have very different ideas about what the future should hold for them. For mothers of teenage daughters, a lot of the fights and conundrums will feel very familiar, perhaps as though Bird has been spying on us! But what was different about this book was that while it had some very serious and frightening underpinnings, it was also raucously funny and witty. Just when the tension between mother and daughter seemed to reach astronomical levels, Bird would pull out her most engaging and hilarious material and set that in place to diffuse what would have otherwise been a very uncomfortable book. It was quite a feat to manage because, while one half of this book was tense and conflicted, the other half had me snorting with glee, which is something that doesn’t often happen with books that deal with a teenage girl’s rebellion.
And rebellion it was. Though Cam tries to be calm about what her daughter is doing and saying, it’s clear that Aubrey’s disregard and disrespect have cut her to the quick. Cam can’t understand where all this deliberate mutiny is coming from, but as readers, we can not only understand but even sympathize. Though a lot of her new behavior centers around a boy she discovers she’s crazy about, a lot of it also reflects her desire to break out of the mold that has kept her captive for so long. One couldn’t help but think that things might have gone a little more smoothly had Aubrey even given the merest hint to Cam about her changing feelings, but the fact that she didn’t seemed extremely realistic, and often very sad.
When Martin edges back into the picture, Cam is legitimately angry and even more confused than she’s ever been before. Now Cam has to deal not only with Aubrey and her outrageous behavior, but with the man who left them all those years ago as well. The pitting of mother against daughter is always at center stage, but soon other acts begin to crowd for the limelight as well. In addition to the back and forth between Aubrey and Cam’s perspective, there are also questions as to the logistics of raising a child as single working parent and issues of neighborhood snobbery. What’s most realistic about this story is the way that the relationship between Cam and Aubrey seems to morph overnight. Many a mother will understand this on a deep and visceral level, and I think part of what Bird is trying to reflect back to her readers is that it’s okay. This is normal and it’s what happens, despite mothers all over the world who wish to will it away.
The only small niggle I had with this book was Bird’s puzzling decision to eschew contractions in her writing, but other than that, this book rocked my sock off. It was wise and funny, and while it was honest, it was also sometimes sad. Bird seems to completely understand mothers and daughters and the rifts that can happen even in the strongest relationships. I didn’t expect to like this one as much as I did, and while there was a lot here to wring my hands over, the ultimate message was uplifting and hopeful. I was fully engaged with this book and would speculate that even those readers who don’t have daughters would be moved and enthralled with this tale that is both unusual and commonplace. Highly recommended.
About the AuthorSarah Bird is the author of seven previous novels. She is a columnist for Texas Monthly and has contributed to many other magazines including O, The Oprah Magazine, The New York Times Magazine, Real Simple and Good Housekeeping. Sarah, the 2010 Johnston Dobie Paisano Fellow, makes her empty nest in Austin, Texas. Connect with Sarah on her website, www.sarahbirdbooks.com, on Facebook, and on Twitter. |
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A warm thanks to TLC Book Tours for providing this book for me to read and review. Please continue to follow the tour by visiting these other blogs:
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Willa Jackson is keeping a low profile in the small town of Walls of Water. Though she used to be quite a mischievous teenager, the grown-up Willa now runs a green sporting goods store and leads a very simple life. When an invitation to a society gala turns up in her mailbox, she wants nothing to do with it. It seems some of the wealthier young ladies in town have decided to refurbish The Blue Ridge Madam, a dilapidated mansion that was once home to Willa’s grandmother. Willa’s grandmother was once a smart society maven in her own right, and it was only due to chance and misfortune that she ever fell away from that kind of life. Paxton Osgood’s grandmother, however, never fell away from that lifestyle, and now that the women’s society in Wall’s of Water has fallen into her hands, she’s eager to celebrate its 75th anniversary with a gala. Paxton and her twin brother Colin have never been friends with Willa, but all that is about to change when strange occurrences and unexpected run-ins begin to take place between the three with alarming frequency. In her efforts to avoid the gala, Willa will begin to uncover the strange and magical secrets that led to the formation of the women’s society, and the hidden secrets of her own lineage. Meanwhile, Paxton seems to be in love with a man who’s completely unavailable to her, has her hands full with her wealthy mother who insists that she live at home, and the re-dedication of the Madam in time for the gala. Blending magical realism with a suspenseful southern Gothic feel, The Peach Keeper is a playful read with a serious side that will keep new and old fans alike caught up in the mystery of Walls of Water.
In the small Newfoundland island town of Paradise Deep a strange occurrence has turned the town upside down. It seems a huge whale has beached itself on the shore, and due to the fishing town’s recent hardships, the residents soon begin to divvy up the carcass for food and fuel. But when the widow Devine begins to cut through the animals stomach, she and the other onlookers are surprised to see a man tumble out. He’s a strange man indeed, with his white hair and skin, and he seems to be mute as well. He also stinks of dead fish, and it’s a smell destined to never go away. So begins the magical and dense saga of a town that’s unlike any you’ll ever experience. Love and hate, passions and feuds, birth and death, they’re all encompassed in this winding and rich tale of a town lost in the middle of the ocean, a town that society forgot. As Crummey follows the handful of families on the island over a span of a hundred years or more, we share in their heartbreaks and sorrows, their triumphs and defeats. In this magnificent and unusual tale, the magic of Paradise Deep and its inhabitants is cleverly meted out with an eye for the fantastical, wonderful and strange.
When Grace Caton boards a plane heading to New York from Trinidad, she’s only sixteen years old. Promised a home with a distant cousin in America, Grace is both excited and scared as she makes her way abroad. But when Grace arrives, she finds that she’s been stranded with no one to retrieve her from the airport and nowhere to live. Soon Grace is living with the mercurial Sylvia and her patchwork family. Though Grace isn’t exactly freeloading at Sylvia’s, her luck in the job department has been pretty meager. As Grace searches for the perfect position, she is also considering marrying Sylvia’s brother Bo for a green card. Just when she thinks she’ll never get a job, a call comes for her regarding a nanny position. But Miriam, the woman offering the job, wants to hire Grace to be her maid, nanny and helper, all for ridiculously low salary. What is Grace to do with no other options on the horizon? With a sinking heart, she agrees to the job, and her life is never the same. Moving between the circles of Island immigrant nannies, her party-loving friends, and her mish-mash family at Sylvia’s, Grace discovers that life in New York isn’t as easy as she once imagined it would be, but despite the hardship and disadvantages she faces, she will not turn tail and run back home. At times funny, at times tragic, this is the tale of a young girl left on her own to manage life in the big city, and of the people she meets who will sometimes help and sometimes hinder her.
This is the hilarious and moving true story of how a woman named Deb and her boyfriend George randomly decided to travel to South America to join the revolution. When they arrived in South America, they had no idea which revolution to join, nor did they even have any concrete reason for joining. What they wanted was to be involved in something bigger than themselves, and their altruistic natures led them to believe that this something was the revolution. Traveling through South America in a wayward fashion, they go from Mexico City to Nicaragua to El Salvador, bumbling their way along and getting themselves into alternately comic and frightening situations. It seems that Deb and George’s help is not wanted, and though they try to become involved in any way they can, they are quickly fired from their jobs as revolutionaries and sent packing. But there’s more to the story than that, because Deb isn’t sure she wants to be with George anymore, and though she’s strangely obsessed with him, she sometimes can’t stand him. As the two bump along, becoming increasingly ill due to poor sanitary conditions, they also find themselves at an emotional crossroads. Chasing the revolution with zest and zeal, both Deb and George will find themselves in the most unlikely places, and find that the revolution taking place inside themselves is much larger than the one they are running through the jungles to find.
Ellie Flaherty is a young woman living in a small town in Ireland who, after a series of small inconveniences, has just married her childhood sweetheart, John. But when John is seriously injured fighting in the Irish resistance against England, his injuries force Ellie to take some drastic measures. Due to their financial insolvency, there's no money for the operation that John needs to fully recover. Soon Ellie finds herself on a ship to America to begin working as a ladies' maid, with plans to send her pay home to John for his needs. But America is nothing like what Ellie had been expecting, and soon she's caught up in its siren song. Leapfrogging out of her job as a maid and on to bigger and better things, Ellie reinvents herself as a young cosmopolitan woman about the city and finds the freedom and elegance she never had in Ireland. Years pass when an unexpected event threatens to send her home to her life back on the farm, but Ellie isn't sure she's ready to leave behind the land of opportunity for a small backwater, despite the fact that she loves John deeply. In this country mouse/city mouse tale, Kate Kerrigan shares the story of a woman whose loyalties and heart are torn in two opposing directions, and the choices she must make to finally bring everything together.
About the Author
Mathilde Kschessinska is seventeen and just graduating from the Russian Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg during the reign of Tsar Nicholas I. She comes from a long line of performers and is expected to culminate her career as a prima ballerina on the Russian stage. But Little K, as she comes to be known, has other plans, for she is interested in snagging the affections and protection of tsarevitch Niki, the young man who will one day become Tsar Nicholas II. During this period in history, the ballet ostensibly existed for the pleasure of the royal family, and each ballerina strove to snare a young and handsome protector from one of the royal houses or the upper echelons of the military. But for Little K, only tsarevitch Niki would do. After a brief flirtation, the tsarevitch succumbs to Little K’s wiles and a life-long relationship begins. As their courtship is cemented, Niki uses his sizable influence to secure the best roles and opportunities for Little K. Though this relationship is initially fraught with passion and vigor, soon Niki decides to make the princess Alix his wife, much to Little K’s anger and chagrin. Soon Little K must search for another protector and benefactor while still holding on to her dreams of luring Nicholas back to her bed. But the Russia of this time was not a stable place, and before long Nicholas I has succumbed to illness, leaving the young Niki the tsar of the land. After his betrothal and marriage to Alix, Little K is left in the wings, seemingly forever. But soon the Russian revolution begins and the tsar and his family are in danger from both the common folk and the nobility. Little K soon finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy of giant proportions and back in Niki’s good graces as well. As Russia begins to self-destruct and its leaders are torn from their illustrious positions, Little K must decide how far she will go for love and whom she will protect when her world comes crumbling down around her. In a subtle blend of history and fiction, The True Memoirs of Little K takes its readers into the heart and mind of one very ambitious ballerina and shines a spotlight on the Russia of the past.
Sam Kingston is one of the popular girls. The kind of girl that is idolized by her peers and can get away with just about anything. In her close social circle are Lindsay the queen-bee, Elody the fast and loose girl, and Ally the not so bright one. As Sam and her friends plow their way to the top of the the social strata of Thomas Jefferson High, everyone else needs to make way. But today will be a day like no other, because today, Sam will die. This is just the beginning of the story, because although Sam is dead, she seems to be reliving her last day over and over again. As Sam navigates her way through that last fateful day time and again, she works on several different ways to circumvent the accident that will take her life and comes to discover just what life is like for the people who orbit her little cruel little clique. A clever textual cross between Groundhog Day and Mean Girls, Before I Fall is the story of the endless permutations of fate and one girl who will try to defy them all.
In this crisp and witty non-fiction selection, Sarah Vowell elucidates her readers on the events leading up to 1898 American annexation of Hawaii, and shares how this surprising development impacted not only the people of Hawaii but how the repercussions changed the course of history for America as well. As Vowell pushes backward into the past, she gives us a taste of what Hawaii was like before this momentous change, when it was ruled by monarchs thought to be blessed by the gods, and how the arrival of American missionaries changed the political and historical landscape of this beautiful and picturesque archipelago. As Vowell relates this incredible story, her trademark humor comes bounding off the pages and her succinct observations on the mingled American and Hawaiian cultures will leave readers aglow with anticipation and wonder. Sharing her insights and the very particular components of this strange event in history, Vowell comes to understand the Hawaiian people in a way that she never has before and shares with her readers how the act of annexing Hawaii could not only be interpreted as an act of possession and domination, but as an act of military imperialism gone tragically overboard. Both witty and wise, Unfamiliar Fishes seeks to understand not only the culture and inhabitants of Hawaii before the annexation, but also after, when it was thrown into the melting pot of America to be boiled down to it most basic elements.
It is 1962 and Fredrick and Katherine Merrill have reached a stand-off in their marriage. While Fredrick finds himself exceptionally entertaining and erudite and considers himself to be the life of the party, the reality is that he is a boorish drunkard who may or may not be beset with mental illness. Katherine has long tolerated Fredrick’s idiosyncrasies but is now finding herself at an impasse. After an evening party goes awry, Fredrick finds himself at the Mayflower Home, the nation’s premiere mental institution, for what everyone assumes is a much needed rest. But soon Fredrick discovers that getting out of the institution is a lot harder than he ever imagined, and his life becomes a more sinister maze to manage. As a patient of Mayflower, Frederick is housed with some of the most brilliant and troubled minds of the age, and the idyllic atmosphere and permissive regulations make Mayflower Home seem like the perfect place for that much needed rest. But when a tragic occurrence forces the hospital under new administration, the tranquil peace of Mayflower Home becomes a repressive and dangerous place, and now Frederick really is trapped by the whims of the new head of hospital, Dr. Canon. Meanwhile, Katherine must survive in her newly reduced circumstances and learn to navigate the social milieu of the friends and family from whom she cannot hide Fredrick’s circumstances, nor her own. As the chapters shift from Frederick’s to Katherine’s vantage point and back, the haunting and elegant conundrum of a marriage in tatters begins to emerge, along with the uncertainty of whether Frederick will ever escape the hallowed halls of Mayflower Home. Emotionally taut with psychological and emotional suspense, The Storm at the Door is a rich study of a troubled marriage and of a man fighting the tide in a place he should not be. 
About the Author
In this superb collection of five stories, Simon Van Booy gives his readers a perpetually moving and emotionally complex ride as he examines several individuals and the relationships that change their lives. First we meet a famous cello player whose loneliness and singularity is abandoned one fleeting moment after a chance meeting with a beautiful and contemplative woman in the titular story, Love Begins in Winter. Next we fall into the midst of a relationship between a young couple who are decidedly against marriage after dually witnessing the death throes of an emotionally starved relationship in the story Tiger, Tiger. Later we travel to Las Vegas where a young boy and his mother are exposed to the tender ministrations of a stranger when they are abandoned for a night of ill-fated gambling in The Missing Statues. Next we’re taken into the fevered heart of a young male gypsy living in rural Ireland as he tries to arrange a chance meeting with the woman of his dreams in the tale The Coming and Going of Strangers. The set concludes with The City of Windy Trees, in which a man named George Frack gets some unexpected and life-changing news with the arrival of a mysterious letter. With Van Booy’s subtle wit and grace, his stories come alive to touch readers in the unexpected soft places of their hearts, proving that the offerings in this collection can be at once provocative and moving.
About the Author
Seventeen year old Lochan and his sister Maya, who is a year younger, have a very difficult life. Since their mother has for all intents and purposes abandoned her family, the two older teens are responsible for taking care of not only each other, but their three younger siblings. Lochan and Maya are not only beset by the pressures of raising a family while still attending high school, they are also socially adrift, and in Lochan’s case filled with a hefty dose of social anxiety. As the children’s mother drunkenly flits in and out of their lives, Lochan and Maya find themselves responsible for more and more of the younger children’s care. But raising children isn’t an easy job, what with 13 year old Kit becoming more and more of a delinquent and young Tiffin beginning to follow in Kit’s footsteps. Then there’s 5 year old Willa, darling and precocious but also demanding of a lot of time and attention. As Lochan and Maya are subsumed into their role of surrogate parents, they find themselves beginning to feel a strange love and attachment to one another and embark on a dangerous and illicit relationship that is not only severely taboo, but that consumes them and puts their entire family at risk. Refusing to give each other up and crossing more and more lines of normalcy and propriety than they ever imagined, Maya and Lochan become mired in a complicated web of emotion and physical hunger that will shatter not only their lives, but the lives of those that depend on them. Stunning in it’s implications and realities, Forbidden tackles a subject that is mired in controversy and shares the story of two teens who are in way over their heads.
In this new and revolutionary self-help book, authors Szuchman and Anderson tackle the problems of marriage in a way that has never been considered before. What if you could organize your marriage and make it better by applying the principles of economics to one of the most personal relationships in your life? Sound kind of boring? Well, surprisingly, it’s not boring at all. Keeping everything at a layman’s level, the authors explain how game theory can bust through any argument you may be having and how division of labor can help you get out of doing the most awful and time-consuming chores. They explain how to use incentives to get what you want and what happens when one spouse has more information about a subject under discussion than the other. They teach us about moral hazard and why it can be a killer to any marriage, and why intertemporal choice is so important to healthy and happy marriages. In all of these sections, they interview real couples and get down to the nitty-gritty with each of them to discuss what’s gone wrong and how to fix it. Did I mention that this book is also very funny? Because it is, and not just funny, it will make you think about marriage in a way you’ve never thought about it before. Whether you are newly married or have been married for several years, Spousonomics is a refreshing and interesting way to look at life with your partner, and to maybe help get him to do the dishes once in awhile.
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