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Friday, August 15, 2008

Friday Flashback

From May 2003:


When You Go Away by Jessica Barksdale Inclan. Women's fiction.








This book also has a theme of parental abandonment, but without the personal parallels, it was easier for me to read.

Peri Mackenzie is a divorced mother of three: a 15-year-old son, a 13-year-old daughter, and a 5-year-old who's severely disabled. One day, she gets in her car and drives away, abandoning them.

Once again, the characters are all very complex and sympathetic. Peri's abandonment of her children, even while due to an acute psychological illness, was understandable.

Unlike Her Daughter's Eyes, however, there was one character I didn't end up sympathizing with at the end: the kids' father. I did get a better sense of what motivated him, but I couldn't sympathize.

In both stories, it took a crisis to shake up the unhealthy status quo and set these families on the road to recovery. And even though both stories end up on a hopeful note, they don't have fairy-tale endings. I know that the families are going to have to work hard, but I have hope that they'll make it.
You can read the entire thread, including a conversation with the author, here.

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// posted by Darla @ 8/15/2008 02:52:00 AM
Comments:
Just dropping by to say hi. It dawned on me I haven't done that lately, even though you're in my reader, so I've been lurking.
# posted by Blogger Susan Helene Gottfried : 8/15/2008 3:11 AM
 
Darla, have you yet read Jessica Inclan's paranormal romance "The Believe" trilogy? I picked up her second book of that trilogy, and will pick up the first and third books soon. But I would like to hear your thoughts and reviews on these books if you have read them :)
# posted by Blogger Julia : 8/15/2008 8:41 AM
 
Hey you! Are you settled? I'm dying for an update. I haven't been on top of my Google reader - to lost in my own head, honestly. I think of you and always hope you are well.

((hug))
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 8/17/2008 2:53 PM
 
Julia, no, I haven't read it. I wasn't planning on, but if you rave about it, I might. :)

Claudia, hahahahahaha... Not really settled yet, no. But I'm working on it. I'm going to try to get started on a weekend update this weekend to let everybody know what the heck I'm doing.
# posted by Blogger Darla : 9/10/2008 7:32 PM
 
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