beachreads | Seattle Book Mama

3.5 stars rounded upwards. My thanks go to Algonquin Books and Net Galley for the invitation to read and review. This book is for sale now.

The premise is one that a lot of readers over age 40 will be able to relate to. Herb and Susan have been very happy, but as they enter their twilight years, Susan is no longer able to care for herself or even communicate well. I don’t think we are ever told the specific cause, whether it’s a stroke that’s left her undone, or dementia, or some other thing, but the result is the same. Herb believes he is qualified to care for his wife, together with a home health assistant that he can well afford to pay, but the truth is, he is too forgetful to do the job properly. In fact, he is closer than he will admit to needing care himself.

Susan always did love a good mani-pedi, and so he hires a traveling manicurist to stop in and take care of Susan’s nails. The young woman that calls herself Renee does more than that, however; she becomes fond of Susan, and shows up with outlandish hats and art supplies and other things that make Susan smile.

But now the family is here, the responsible, busy adults that can see this situation is untenable. They want to move Herb and Susan to a care facility, but Herb is adamantly opposed. Herb isn’t going to have anything to say about it much longer, though, and he can see the handwriting on the wall.

As I read first half of this little book, I feel a certain amount of reviewer’s remorse. Why have I signed on to read this thing? It’s supposed to be funny, but it isn’t. And I took it because it has been billed as humorous; ordinarily I avoid books about aging.

About halfway into it, however, my feelings begin to change, because I realize this story isn’t about Herb and Susan. It’s about the manicurist, whose real name is Dee-Dee. Dee-Dee comes from hardscrabble poverty, and has escaped from a trafficking situation she was thrust into just as puberty began. She took some of the traffickers’ money when she fled, and she uses the name Renee to cover her trail.

Herb’s son is leery of Dee-Dee. He believes she has questionable motives; maybe she a grifter, or a gold digger, or who knows what? When he uncovers her true identity, he is sure he is right. As preparations are made to move the old folks and sell the house, he visits her in the sad little trailer where she is staying to warn her off.

I like the interplay of these two characters of wildly disparate social classes, and the difference in their thinking. The most redemptive feature throughout this quirky little novel is the voice that comes through. The rich (asshole) son is absolutely believable, though his is a minor character; that’s okay, I don’t really want to spend more time with him. But sweet little Dee-Dee, who is desperately undereducated and has nobody to help her, nevertheless tends to give others the benefit of the doubt. She’s plucky, using advanced vocabulary words that she’s picked up, planning for her future.

It seems likely that this sweet little novel will get less credit than it should, because of the way it’s marketed. When we see a book in the humor section, we expect it to make us laugh. It has a warm and fuzzy cover, and nobody would expect the serious trigger issues contained within it. (Do NOT buy this book as summer reading for your precocious middle schooler!) Had it been presented to readers as a whimsical tale of friendship, it would have met with friendlier reviews.

Recommended for adults over 40 that are looking for a beach read.

beforetherainfalls Those looking for a sweet, light romance will find it here and come away happy. It was just published, and you can get it now. Thanks go to Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing for the DRC, which I received free of charge in exchange for an honest review.

The story is divided between three protagonists, and the narrative alternates to include each of their points of view. Two of the characters are Della Lee, a very elderly woman recently paroled from a life term in prison for the murder of her sister, and Paloma Vega, a young doctor that’s returned to her hometown on the Texas border to take care of family business.

One thing that drew me to the title is that the most important characters are both women, and it is they that prove to be the most dynamic. Our third character, Mick Anders, is a journalist seeking Della’s story. He is changed by it, and yet really his character exists as a foil for the two women. So far, so good.

Because the premise starts with the woman who’s spent her entire adult life in prison, I was expecting something grittier. Women in prison haven’t really made it into a lot of fiction, and so my interest was piqued. I was also hoping for a social justice angle, and to be fair, the teaser promises no such thing, and so to an extent, this disappointment is one I brought on myself. Though Della’s reminiscences as she unspools her memories for Anders recount some of what she went through, it really isn’t a prison story, but the story of Della’s own life and the sacrifice she has made.
The parallels between Della’s life and Paloma’s intrigued me and I was hoping the novel would veer in the direction of literary fiction, some allegory perhaps; something subtle and open to the reader’s interpretation. This isn’t that either. Soon the parallels feed into a tidy package, and the coincidences are just too many. I had reconciled myself to the likelihood that this really would, in fact, be a straight up historical romance, and if the end had been crafted in a more nuanced way I could have given it four stars, but instead it is predictable, and when that happens there can’t be magic, because the Great-And-Powerful-Wizard’s curtain has been pulled away by the unlikeliness of the story. Toto has the curtain in his mouth, and instead of looking at Della, at Paloma, and Nick I am looking Di Maio and saying, Oh come on. Seriously?

Some of the better moments in the story are the side elements, the interaction between Paloma and her sister Mercedes, an adolescent smarting from Paloma’s abandonment when she moved away. Paloma is wooing her back into a sisterly relationship, and her clumsy missteps and the ways in which she corrects herself are resonant and absolutely believable.

Although Della’s back story feels over-the-top to me, her present, the return to her home after seven decades away, the changes in the home and the strangeness of being back in the world and at liberty are also well done. The author does a nice job in crafting Della’s present-day setting and wedding it to her story.

Those looking for a traditional romance, something to pack for a vacation that will leave a warm, fuzzy afterglow will enjoy this novel, and to them I recommend it.