A Strange Little Band
Judith B. GladMainstream romance
Available from Uncial Press
ISBN: 978-1-60174- 079-3
October 2009
| A year ago Annie's twenty month old son fell into a pond and drowned. Refusing help from family or friends she divorced her husband and moved. Serhilda's mother Frances gave her to someone else to raise when she was just six months old. Her surrogate father is now dying but refusing to see her. Her mother pretends she's just her secretary, not her daughter, refuses to even be referred to as her mother. As this family gathers for a reunion all of the pains, the joys, the parenting skills, or lack thereof, are on display.
Judith B. Glad tells a tale likely to remind us of our own family in one way or another. The Blankenship extended family is huge as are the hearts of many of them. As we get to know the various offspring and spouses each reader will be able to decide how they feel about some of the characters and their behavior. Each of us is likely to empathize with some, dislike others. Ms. Glad leaves some of the finer points of whether some of the characters are good or evil up to us. There are some strong disagreements among the family members about what is right and wrong in child rearing and relationships. Through it all Annie struggles to cope with the death of a child and a potential relationship with a man who she meets in a most unusual way on her journey to the reunion. Clay Knight is a strong character as are Cecile and Ward. These four provide the centeral focus of the book as the others revolve and interact around them. There are times when the number of characters makes it difficult to remember who belongs to whom but the overall theme of the story is warm and loving. Good can come from tragedy. Secrets can overwhelm fragile relationships. The author makes this a memorable family and the book well worth the read.
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Reviewer: Dee Dailey |
