Marian Thurm

Each man and woman might have a different dream for the good life, but dreams come together for well-heeled Roger Goldenhar and the earnest social worker, Stacy, when they meet in a bakery and find they have more in common than just a love for lemon cake. Roger’s longing for the affirmations of real life, with wife and children attached, fits perfectly with Stacie’s desire to move on after the death of her parents. They enjoy a pleasant courtship, not quite fast enough to be whirlwind, and marriage brings them children, day-to-day trials, plus the odd nightmare or dream.

Author Marian Thurm portrays the sharp edges below relationships with the same enticing conviction as she applies to the dialog of the smooth. Nobody gets quite what they want from life, from marriage, adoption, parenthood or even beloved memories of the past. No one is ever quite what they seem. But people move on, adapt, and continue to love, then take a vacation. In the case of this novel, Stacy and Roger's good life, betrayed, leads them to a vacation in Florida, with smiling children, determined mom, and a gun.

The story’s told in parallel times, the tale of a joyful marriage moving inexorably to its demise, and that of a vacation rushing toward a ticket home. The reader’s never sure if this good life’s dream will end in nightmare or hope, which makes the novel a true page-turner, filled with believable characters, real and varied intentions, and the humor, joys and sorrows of people who really are quite good. The story’s endlessly surprising and powerfully, tragically real—it's one whose characters and questions will linger long after the Good Life is done.

Disclosure: I was given a free preview edition and I offer my honest review.… (lisätietoja)

This novel follows five characters, all connected in some way to Griffin, an exclusive high school of students from wealthy families. There is "Lazy" Hoffman, the headmistress who is having an affair with the English teacher despite being married to a loving husband; Michael Avery, a Griffin senior whose intelligence can't mask his mental illness; Julianne, his suffering girlfriend and a full-scholarship student at Griffin; her mother Dee, who is a writer and cab driver and nothing at all like the wealthy Griffin parents; and Susan, Michael's indifferent mother who fawns over her pet chihuahua.
… (lisätietoja)