(This review also appears on my blog, posting in its enirety here since I won it through Goodreads First program.)

This book was depressing, uplifting, and makes you think. Isn't that the focus of most great books? There are multiple themes here -- at first the nosiness and judging of neighbors, to end with being sure to watch and know what your neighbors are about. At first sounds conflicting, but the change in perspective makes sense here. The biggest theme really seemed to be with children - through one character being alone, young and pregnant, to another woman who regrets all these years an abortion she had, to a father who never paid attention to having children, to a father who overdominates his child, and to tragic characters who lost their children due to their lifestyles. The pain of all is present through the book, the overwhelming burden of caring for a child, the aching emptiness when they're not there any longer.

You may imagine - and I would guess if hearing this description - that this book would be melodramatic. Fortunately it is not - the author Debra Ginsberg writes it in an almost detached way, yet laying out scenes which are emotionally wrenching, very deep, and very real. It's like looking inside a glass house at something played out, the real emotion of the persons mind and secret suffering played out to you.

There are secrets in the book and the back of the novel plays up on this for the sake of the story, and it's shown how devestating secrets can be, but really this takes a backstory. It's not the secrets that help doom these people, but human selfish nature, even more prevalent than keeping things hidden. While their selfishness is not villain-worthy and one-dimensional, it is realistic and biting. How things could be so different, we see as we read and as we finish the read, had they only lived less in themselves. It's ironic the book starts out with nosy people wanting to pry into others lives, while they keep so much hidden from even their own families. It ends with things exposed and healing but changes from prying for gossip sake to prying for community bonding and emotional support.

Ginsberg has created a neighborhood of characters that are very real and, even when they're not traveling moral streets, their actions make sense without having to display much backstory and reasoning. It's just the way it is. Pacing is a little slow as it's more of a character introspection type story. Despite the back blurb and the cover, this not a suspsense novel and is most definitely a top-notch drama. There is a mystery of what happens but it takes a back story to the tragedy of that mystery.

I have given four stars rather than five due to a bit too much detachment for my taste the first quarter of the book. I feel it could have grabbed more of my attention had it delved further into the characters with a unity which would befit it. The middle and end shone, however, with worthy points, extreme emotion, and the last page splashes on humans being able to change with uplifting clarity.

Definitely recommended for any reader of any genre. ( )

I REALLY wanted to love this book. As another reviewer said, the characters weren't very likeable and that made it difficult to care what happened to them or care about what they did. The ending was unsatisfying. It seeme as though it was supposed to be a longer story but then the author decided to wrap it up. ( )

[Originally posted at Bookin' It.]

This book is a soap-opera beach read, full of stereotypes like "Desperate Housewives." You've got your bi-racial pregnant teen surprising her white dad and the resentful wife he compelled to have an abortion. You've got your "pillars of the community" couple with the self-righteous husband and perfectionist wife, and their troubled teenage son. You've got your lesbian couple and you've got the neighborhood slut. You've also got your foreign family that keeps to itself.

The background event is the 2007 San Diego wildfires, but I was disappointed that they actually mattered little in the plot. None of the characters was really likable, except possibly Sam, one of the lesbians.

If I hadn't had to read this for book club, I probably would not have finished it

© Amanda Pape - 2012

[This book was borrowed and returned through interlibrary loan.] ( )

interesting interactions between people who wouldn't interact. A little mystery/trauma to see what will happen between people. Read this author again. ( )

Wow! I loved this book. I really wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. Fuller Court is your typical neighborhood; people keep to themselves, but really they would love to know exactly what is going on behind each other's doors. Everything is well and good until Joe Montana's long lost pregnant teenage daughter turns up...

Ginsberg creates a suspenseful story about love, relationships, drugs, death, and new life set against the backdrop of wildfire season in California. I felt emotionally involved with each character. Although there were no particular plot twists or surprises, I could not put the book down! ( )