| Review |
| Written by Bett Norris, author of Miss McGhee |
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Summary: It's All About the House Comment: I've read other novels by KG MacGregor, and was prepared, I thought, to enjoy this one, just released again by Bella Books. I was surprised and pleased and thoroughly entertained by the skill and depth I found here. There's humor and great subplots and minor characters you want to hang out with and get to know. MacGregor has created a very real little community here. Justine lives in the house on Sandstone, the kind you build when your husband is a successful attorney who just made partner and your family is growing and you are the director of fundraising for the local hospital. It's the kind of house you don't want to live in alone, after the divorce, after the kids decide they'd rather be at their father's, after you've made the kind of public and humiliating mistakes that take much time and therapy to overcome. It's just a big, empty house. How do you go about restoring your children's faith in you, your faith in yourself, and building a life based on the new, stronger person you've forged? Maybe you start by promising that no matter what happens, you'll never make the same mistakes in the future, never risk losing your children's love by pursuing your own interests before theirs. Carly travels all over the world, and returns to her home town between assignments to visit her parents and rest before flying off to another remote location for her company. She's done this for twenty years, and it has grown tiresome, but there is nothing for her in her small home town except bad memories. This novel is full of wonderful surprises. I dare anyone to read the first chapter without laughing. Then I dare you to continue reading. There has never been a more hilarious first date than the one Carly and Justine have, both wondering if old hurts can be forgiven, old attraction rekindled. Anyone's who's ever been divorced, who has teenaged kids, who has longed to return to the old hometown but is afraid it will be stifling, anyone who has fantasized about that first crush and wondered, who has both dreaded but also wanted to attend a high school reunion just to show off, anyone who has watched their parents age, made mistakes in front of everyone they know, anyone who reads this novel will identify, laugh, sniffle, and feel really good when they finish it. The house on Sandstone gradually fills up with people and love and laughter, tearful confrontations and angry ones, and all the little moments, quiet, gradual, inevitable, that change outlook and direction and reveal options that once were out of reach. Sometimes, you can go home again. |