Tracy Manaster

A violent crime from years ago becomes front and center for Tracy Manaster’s characters in THE DONE THING – a tragic event changes the course of lives and nothing will ever be the same. How far will one woman go?

Highly-charged, emotional, and frustrating at times. From obsession, hatred, and revenge to an attempt at forgiveness and acceptance. One life-altering event catapults a family into turmoil, revealing secrets and feeling that may leave them fractured forever.

For eighteen years and four appeals, Lida had waited. Each April she had petitioned. She despised the man, Clarence who had been responsible for putting her sister, Barbra in the ground. Clarence was the husband of Barbra and father of Pamela.

Barbra had left her daughter Pamela behind. Lida had raised Pam. Childless, she and Frank could not have children, and about the time their adoption came through, they had Pam to raise. Before they took custody he girl had spent exactly one weekend in her care.

Prior to her retirement at sixty, Lida was a successful orthodontist. Now Frank was gone, dead . . . and Pam was grown with a life of her own. Married and expecting.

Lida now has more time on her hands to obsess and scheme. She is bitter. She is angry. She wants Clarence to die. To suffer. “Clarence lingered, unshakable as the phantom weight a watch leaves on a naked wrist.”

She knew that once he died she could find new thoughts. She would love to serve him his last meal.

Barbra’s lover. Lawrence Richard Ring. Next Barbra fell, split apart by four bullets. Clarence had picked up Pamela and lied about a dentist appointment. Pamela was in the car. Clarence had been granted three letters to Pamela a year.

Presently, Lida has turned sixty-three and Pamela has purchased her a new computer. She comes up with a plan. She wants revenge. She discovers Clarence Lusk. Be a Penfriend. It’s the Write Thing. Be a Candle to Those in Darkness.

The Prison in Arizona. Inmate 58344. He wants a pen pal. She would change her name and set up a post office. She would be Maisie. Lida crosses a line and begins to write to Clarence. Pretending to be a flirty twenty-three-year-old, in an effort to attain retribution.

Will Clarence open up to her if he thinks she is someone else? Or will he be smart enough to catch her deception? Will she lose control of the situation?

What is Pam thinking or feeling? Does Lida consider her actionsLida thinks she is always rushing to get married, hoping the baby would be born—before the needle. The death of her father.

The author captures every evil thought of this angry, manipulative, and lonely woman. The strained relationship between aunt and niece. Lida is so consumed by revenge has she forgotten the family in front of her. She dwells on everything bad in her life and chooses to believe this one man is at fault and to blame.

The letters between Clarence and Lida delve deep into the human emotions, and how deep the scars run after a tragedy that will forever change lives. How after years it begins to consume her.

Scene (Chapter 35) was well done and quite comical. The phone call and banter between the two. The claws come out.

The description summary from the publisher was right on – fans of Elizabeth Strout’s, [book:Olive Kitteridge|1736739] — complex; quite similar to the heavy mood of darkness, pain, and gloom. The internal war waging within. Human imperfections and family dynamics. Learning to let go and free oneself of anger.

However, the writing is well-crafted as the author explores the complex minds of humans in the midst of tragedy and the overwhelming need for justice. The consequences of this obsession are at the heart of THE DONE THING.

After reading three books in a row back to back, [book:The Last Suppers|34776067](also death row), [book:What Remains True|35169491] ( the aftermath of a boy dying), and now THE DONE THING. Something a bit lighter with humor is in order.

All three family dramas are well-written books which teeter on literary fiction; however, they are deep, dark, and sad. This is the type of book you may want to mix in among a few upbeat ones.

A special thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley for an advanced reading copy.

JDCMustReadBooks … (lisätietoja)

Have you ever read a book that felt so real and so heartfelt that ending it seemed almost wrong?

Tracy Manaster’s book (newly in paperback!), You Could Be Home By Now, was exactly that book for me…which probably explains why I read it all in one day! Yes, it’s that good. To start with, this book is beautifully written. Although this is Manaster’s first novel, it’s by no means her first taste of the literary world as she has written for numerous publications previously – and it shows! Each moment within this story is fine-tuned to leave you either laughing, crying, or wondering why in the world they would choose to do that. And perhaps best of all, there are moments that have you nearly doing all 3 at the same time.

You Could Be Home By Now is set outside of Tucson, Arizona in a luxury retirement community where all residents must be over the age of 55. This is important because when a young boy falls and injures himself within the community and the other members learn he’s being raised there by his grandmother, a great big load of drama is unleashed among neighbors. This story, told from multiple points of view by vastly different characters illustrates how viewing things from someone else’s point of view might change understanding altogether. Ultimately, it comes down to a balance of minding one’s own business and holding yourself together at the same time that will illuminate what needs to be done.

The characters in the novel are what really shines – uncertain, unrestricted, and overwhelmingly flawed, each makes a case for furthering the proceedings within the community. Whether you relate to one, two, all, or none of them yourself, they are each fascinating and endearing in their own right. If you love character-driven stories that will be sure to tug at your heart strings and make you wish you could follow along with the lives of these people for longer, this is a perfect book for you.

Described as Silver Linings Playbook meets Death At A Funeral, this poignant and touching debut will be everything you hoped it would be and then some.

Head over to TipsyWriter.com to read my exclusive interview with author, Tracy Manaster!

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM… (lisätietoja)

You Could Be Home By Now by Tracy Manaster covers a wide variety of social issues in an intelligent, entertaining, and highly recommended debut novel.

Seth and Alison Collier are teachers who have recently experienced the death of their first child as a newborn. Seth, who is seemingly struggling more with handling his grief than Alison, suggests that they make a complete change of atmosphere to help them deal with their grief. They leave their teaching jobs in Vermont and move to the Commons, an over 55 planned community in outside Tucson, Arizona.

Once they are ensconced in their new positions, we meet some of the residents. Sadie, a recent widow, has her teenage granddaughter, Lily, come to visit. Lily who has come out as gay, has been sent to visit after her school reprimands her over a post on her blog, which features fashion advice for teens. She ends up saving the life of the grandchild secretly living next door with Mona Rosko, a curmudgeonly woman who has been unable to sell her house in the community due to the depressed housing market. The discovery of a child under 55 living in the community makes Mona a target for eviction. Ben Thales, who is a recently divorced retired veterinarian, has his own reasons for spouting off to a news reporter in such a vitriol manner that the clip goes viral, making Ben's mental health a concern for his son and ex-wife.

The pleasure I found in Manaster's novel surprised me. The writing is very good, but the real treasure is her characters. The emotions and inner turmoil of all the characters are handled so deftly and distinctly that I found myself enjoying the novel more and more. They have all the complex emotions, vulnerabilities, and disparate motives of real people, so they are not easily thrown into good/bad categories. They are all people struggling along with events, considering events and their actions based their own personal experiences. Each character is allowed to tell the events from their point of view and we are privy to the reason's they are doing many of the things that others are questioning.

Anyone who has ever lived with a home owner's association full of persnickety despots will totally understand how the rules in the retirement community, while written for a reason, are hard to accept in all situations. Life is never quite that neat and tidy. As a personal aside I once lived in an HOA community where a couple residents on the board were trying to dictate that only a certain kind of rose could be planted, as well as several other rules that were not in the by-laws and thus totally legally unenforceable. This experience did show me how a little power can affect some people, and, more importantly, that they can only be the neighborhood bullies if you allow it. You can say, "No, I will not sign that petition." and life will go on.

Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Adams Media for review purposes.
… (lisätietoja)