White Picket Fences

Often when faced with a crisis, I get in my car and drive.  No particular destination in mind, just wheels to the pavement and time alone to think.  Years ago during one such excursion, as I passed perfectly manicured homes, it occurred to me that no one truly knows what goes on behind those decorative doors.  In Susan Meissner’s White Picket Fences, the Janvier family lives what appears to be a perfect life.  When mom Amanda takes in the 16 year old daughter of her wandering brother, their seemingly ideal world begins to fall apart.  Her husband, Neil, is not quite as enthusiastic about trying to provide their niece, Tally, with a stable home.  Their children, Chase and Delcey are unsurprisingly absorbed in their own lives and give little thought to their cousin’s stay.   Things change, however, when Chase and Tally work together on a school assignment involving Holocaust survivors.  They begin to develop a closer bond as their project progresses and family secrets rise to the surface.  White Picket Fences is a dramatic, engaging story that looks beyond the façade and finds the heart of a family.  

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This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

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A longing to belong

I was more than 100 pages into Marisa de los Santos’ novel “Belong to Me” before I realized that the central characters first appeared in “Love Walked In”.  Duh.  I did, however, keep thinking that the writing, specifically Cornelia’s dialogue, was incredibly similar to the first book in the continual use of run-on sentences that were initially somewhat off-putting but eventually endeared her to me because of the similarity to countless conversations, both written and audible, I’ve had over the years with my beloved youngest sister.   That said, this not-readily-apparent sequel begins with the relocation of Cornelia and her impossibly handsome oncologist husband from the city to suburbia.  As she becomes familiar with her new neighbors, the dramas inside each household begins to unfold.   The author builds each story rather slowly but with both laughter and sadness mingled throughout.  I call this a “slice of life” book – the reader is allowed to glimpse the day in and day out lives of ordinary people, as if there are ordinary people (I personally believe there are not).  From the initially overbearing Piper to the tender, young Dev, the characters are the heart and soul of the novel.  Each one seeking what each one of us wants – somewhere, someone to belong to.   I remember thinking that the conclusion of “Love Walked In” was just a bit of a stretch.  I also remember not caring because I’d grown so fond of the characters.   In some way, the same could be said for this book, but as it goes with many of the stories I enjoy, a part of these characters will forever belong to me.

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