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Review: This Holey Life by Sophie Duffy

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20131030-090623.jpg This Holey Life is ostensibly about an ordinary British family making their way through the mountains and valleys of life. But it’s actually about the holes … the missing pieces that are carved out of us by disappointments and pain and death of our loved ones. And it’s about the love that fills those holes, the love that comes in the form of a loyal husband, a baby’s chubby fingers, a child’s craft all sticky with too much glue, and a hug or a smile from a teenager.

Even though this novel isn’t about clinical depression, and even though I stay far away from books about depression, Duffy gives us Vicky — a mom, a preacher’s wife, a sister, a daughter — who has so much responsibility in life that she cannot push through the mud of depression due to her son’s death. And vice-versa. Vicky is so mired in sadness over her son’s death that she cannot appreciate the blessings in her responsibilities as a mom, wife, sister and daughter.

I feel for Vicky. I know what it’s like to lose someone you love, and then still be expected to carry on, as if that hole shouldn’t affect your ability to love others and take care of them with a joyful heart. I felt Vicky’s need to be alone or cry or scream — a need that went unmet because she had to fulfill her responsibilities. I empathized with Vicky the numerous times she thought she might break because she had nothing left to give — and then her brother Martin would come strolling in, taking, taking, taking more. Martin was the perfect symbol of “the last straw” in anyone’s life.

The book was just as much about Vicky’s husband Steve: his burdens, his turning point from depression to joyful living, and the steadfast love he has for his family.

This Holey Life had its light and happy moments, and I smiled often while reading. But just as often, I cried. I cried for Steve who was so loving in all the right ways, for Vicky who was so strong even though she felt her head was barely above water, for the parents and sisters and brothers and cousins, who all found their place, filling Vicky’s holes, filling her heart.

–Calliope

Buy it now This Holey Life

Review: Lock, Stock, and Over a Barrel (a Dear Daphne novel) by Melody Carlson

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20131005-230242.jpgThis is a charming novel set in the fictional small town of Appleton. Daphne grew up there, and after more than a decade in New York City, she moves back to Appleton due to a death in the family.

Daphne doesn’t expect to fall in love with her hometown, nor does she expect to fall in love with a man. But Daphne does realize she is surrounded by loyal friends and family — as well as several potential suitors. While Daphne negotiates the terms of her aunt’s will, she begins to appreciate old friends, fresh faces in town, and the start of a new career. She meets more than a handful of attractive men – and has to decide just how much flirting she’s going to do!

Lock, Stock, and Over a Barrel is a straightforward, quaint story of a contemporary 30-ish woman’s life. Carlson shows us broken hearts, jealousy, discontent, the need to refocus as life throws curveballs, and finally, the benefits of simple living.

Lock, Stock is the first in a series. I want to read the next one to find out who Daphne falls in like with, how Daphne’s writing career takes off, and how the little town of Appleton continues to grow.

If you’re a Melody Carlson fan, liked the “Green” series by Judy Christie, or the Aggie’s Inheritance books by Chautona Havig, you’ll enjoy this!

–Calliope

Buy it now Lock, Stock, and Over a Barrel