The Weight of Small Things

by Sherri Wood Emmons

From the acclaimed author of Prayers and Lies and The Sometimes Daughter comes an emotional, compelling, and ultimately uplifting novel that explores the fragility and resilience of love—and the decisions, large and small, that determine not just who we are, but who we want to be.

Corrie Phillips has an enviable life—even if it’s not quite the one she wanted. She enjoys working at her university alumni magazine, her house is beautiful, and her husband, Mark, is attentive, handsome, and wealthy. But after years of frustration and failed attempts, Corrie is desperate for a child—and haunted by the choices in her past.

A decade ago, just after college, Corrie’s boyfriend Daniel left town, intent on saving the world even if it meant breaking Corrie’s heart. Now he’s returned, and despite her misgivings, Corrie feels drawn to him again. But the emotions that overwhelm her may put her marriage and her secure, stable life at risk. Faced with an unexpected choice, Corrie must unravel illusion from reality at last and weigh what she most needs against what her heart has always wanted.

Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit, Romance, Family, Drama, Contemporary, Psychology

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Sherri Wood Emmons is a freelance writer and editor. Prayers and Lies is her first work of fiction. She is a graduate of Earlham College and the University of Denver Publishing Institute. A mother of three, she lives in Indiana with her husband, two fat beagles, and four spoiled cats.

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wouldn't recommend this book.

Almost all of the characters are flat, especially the men. That makes it really hard to understand the women's choices. I don't mind flat characters in chick lit or horror books, but I do in "serious" novels that are trying to examine the human experience.

The title doesn't make sense -- It's not a small choice to choose to cheat on your husband, or to leave your spouse, or to file for divorce, etc. These are big choices that may be poorly made in a moment of rage or sorrow, sure, but they are not small choices.

The plot was really predictable, except for some random and convenient crap the author throws in toward the end so she can tie up all the loose ends in a neat but unbelievable way.

I feel like the author's target audience was folks in their 30s or 40s who have experienced a mid-life crisis, and she's expecting them to fill in all the gaps in her writing with their own experiences and knowledge.

I only gave it two stars because I was vaguely curious enough to finish the novel, mainly to see if anything else was revealed about these people.

If you place this novel side by side with any of Wally Lamb's books, you can see a significant difference in the character development. Lamb's characters feel like real people. Many of his books are also depressing, but they feel worthwhile. This was just.. depressing. There was no takeaway.

[Patrice Hoffman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Weight of Small Things by Sherri Wood Emmons tells the story of Corrie Phillips. Corrie lives a enviable life with her handsome, wealthy husband Mark. The only thing she's missing of course is the baby. When news of Corrie's ten-year reunion arrives so does the arrival of her college ex-boyfriend. Haunted by the memories of her past she agrees to meet her ex-boyfriend for better or worse.

I enjoyed this book for the most part. A couple of the characters are quirky and fun. Actually most of them complete each other. For a book that's mainly about the choices we make large or small, I felt that a few of them made bad decisions. I expected them to make better choices but I understand that in order for the characters to progress and evolve, these bad decisions needed to be made.

Emmons does a great job at character development. I felt that I knew each character and they were all believeable. Even when I was annoyed by them I still cared about how things would turn out. This is a story about love and how fragile it can be. It's also about the weight of the decisions we do (or don't) make and how those decisions affect our lives. If I had to say anything negative about this book it's that I found our protagonist a little ironic.

In conclusion, I felt that this novel is worth a read for all those women's literature lovers. It's a story about love, fidelity, choices, and forgiveness. It's a quick, smooth read that is engaging and interesting.

[Crystal · Rating 1 out of 5]

Her 3rd published book, but the first one she wrote --and you can tell! The other two were well written, and this was not! Don't waste your time.

[Kathy Cowie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don’t have too much to say about this one. Not my kind of book. The plot lines were depressing and ridiculous. Hard to take the main character seriously with the name “Coriander Bliss”. I am supposed to believe her mother was prone to whimsy, but mostly she is described as an abusive drunk. What’s worse than the character’s name? Her deadbeat ex-fiance calling her “Corrie-Andy”. Maybe it’s me, but that made me cringe every time I read it. Not sure who this book is for. There is a lot of “kissing on the forehead”, though everyone in the book, it seems, is pregnant. Everything is neatly tied up in the end, (if you like that sort of thing) and I might have been happy if I cared about any of the characters, but honestly, I was just glad to finish it.

[Suzanne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Made it to page 76 but cannot stomach anymore of this book. I hate the characters and the plot is going in a direction I don't care to follow. My "To Read" list is too long to waste time on a book I am not enjoying.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Corrie is in her early 30s and married to Mark and they are trying to get pregnant. She is not having any luck and blames herself for this because as a young woman, she had an abortion. So this is not something that anyone else knows about. Mark is a really good guy, but she seems to still be in love with her first boyfriend, Daniel. They met it while in college and after 9/11 Daniel left for New York to make a difference. He was always looking to help other people. She did not go with him so they never got back together. He comes to town for their college reunion and asks her to do a story in their alumni magazine to help “save“ his center for disadvantaged youth. He runs this center in California where he currently lives. She goes to California, does the story, and sleeps with Daniel. And now she’s pregnant. Bryn is her very good friend, who now finds herself pregnant by her boyfriend who is 10 years her senior, but never seems to want to grow up. So she leaves him in his staying with Bob, whose wife left him, and he has two young boys and is now filing divorce from his wife. I find Daniel to be pushy and a pain in the ass. He wants Corrie to move to California so they can be together and raise the baby. Because once Mark finds out, it’s not his baby he files for divorce. Anyway, she does not want to move to California and he does not want to move back to Middlebrook so, a stalemate. However, the book is predictable and in the end Bryn marries Bob and Daniel comes back to Meadowbrook so that he can live as a family with Corrie and their baby.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It's a slice of life style story, looking at Bryn and Corrie as their worlds totally change in their early 30's. There are a few things that happen that seem a bit crazy, but it's all realistic, and plausible. There was sadness and hope and a whole range of emotions in between.

I highly recommend any book I've written by this author, and this one is no exception. It's not as heartbreaking as her other books, but it's just as real and hearttouching.

[Miranda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible. It was rushed, simple, and the interactions were forced. The author kept adding additional problems...the characters overreacted (and acted unlike their personalities consistently).

I'm very disappointed because her other two books were fantastic. I really disliked this book.

[Lauren | Pages & Puzzles · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just really, REALLY did not enjoy this book. Painfully cliche and with NO likeable characters. Will not be reading again.

[Suzanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Just a little too much drama for me.

[krdito · Rating 1 out of 5]

Having loved Wood Emmons first books, "Prayers and Lies" and "The Sometimes Daughter," I was looking forward to reading The Weight of Small Things over the Christmas holiday. Wow, what a major disappointment! The characters lacked development, and none were particularly likeable. The plot was simple, very predictable, and full of cliches, focusing on educated, professional adults doing stupid things. It was ridiculous and unbelievable that Corrie could still be so hung up over an old boyfriend that left her 10 years ago. I just wanted to shake each character and tell them to GROW UP! I found the characters of Bryn and Bob to be unnecessary, and their story was just annoying. This book felt like a Lifetime movie, which I loathe. Sorry, Wood Emmons needs to go back to writing coming-of-age books about young girls, like her previous novels.

[Anna Butler-Whittaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Well, what to say about this book! So clever, very unusual, well written, very dark, surprising, fascinating, intriguing, and so very good! I wasn’t sure for about the first third of the book, but the rest I really enjoyed. It was absolutely fascinating, and created a world that was very complex and interlinked. I found it really satisfying, but I can’t really explain why. I would definitely read more by this author, but it 100% would not be for everyone. It’s left me with a bizarrely good feeling, despite its depressing subject matter! Definitely one I’m pleased I tried, and I wouldn’t have without the suggestion of a local book group!!!

**edit** I’ve just realised I’ve actually posted this review on the wrong book! There’s another with the exact same title! I’ll delete this one and transfer it to the correct one!!!

**edit 2** I can’t work out how to delete!!!!!

[Pammy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I get it. The author wants us to reflect on the ways each decision we make can change our lives. That those choices may be heavy with future implications and that the little choices that seem inconsequential may push us in a totally new direction.
The key character is Corrie. She's got a job she loves, an attentive and wealthy hubby, and a beautiful home of her dreams.
Surprise, surprise. We soon find she's frustrated that she can't bear the child she desperately wants. She feels drawn to the college love that was left behind . Should she or shouldn't she?
I thought this plot has been done a bit too much. By the end, I was a bit indifferent as to the path she takes.

[Gloria · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I got this book for like a dollar, years ago, when I had nothing to read. Recently I was unable to get to my library, and can't stand not having a book to read, so I picked this up. It is really.. predictable and the characters aren't very complex or interesting.. But I found myself wanting to keep reading it. It's rather silly, and there aren't any real surprises, but for some reason, I read all, like, 384 pages. It wasn't awful. I'd give it 2.8 stars if I had that option. I've definitely read worse.. I just wouldn't call it a good book.

[Kristin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this entire book because the story was just interesting enough to keep going. However, it was kind of a hate read. The vast majority of the characters in this book are flat and underdeveloped. Corrie the main character cries on every page! Seriously almost every page ends with her sitting down and crying. And her love interests are her flat boring husband or her creepy can't take no for an answer ex. Yuck. Only Bryn and Bob were worth reading about and even then it still felt like a story line from Days of Our Lives.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was predictable and I found myself very disappointed in the main character's decisions. But, I understood them. I think that is what is so frightening. The author describes the title as seemingly inconsequential decisions, or non-decisions, adding up and changing us. I find this concept terrifying and true. Although all worked out in the end, for so many, it doesn't happen that way. I stayed up way to late reading this book, but I couldn't put it down.

[Peggy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really loved the author's book, Prayers and Lies, but this one needed some firmer editing. The main character, Corrie, seemed one-dimensional to me. Throughout the book, we spent months with her, but she seemed to have no hobbies or interests. And all the crying. Every chapter ended with crying. Crying when she was happy; crying when she was sad; crying when she was lonely. You get the picture. So much crying.

[Sarah Brooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was just a story. No great literature or exceptional emotional saga but a story that kept me entertained enough to keep reading. Most of the male characters are less than appealing which made me wish I could steer the female chart away from any of their options. Like I said. Just a story. Certainly not life changing but not terrible either

[Kari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Corrie has a good life and is happily married. However, she desperately wants a baby. She is haunted by something that happened in her past and fears that God is punishing her now and that's why she isn't getting pregnant. This is also starting to take a tole on her marriage.

Then in walks Daniel, Corrie's ex-boyfriend, from ten years ago. She thought she would marry him at one time.

I don't want to say too much to give away what happens, but wrong decisions are made. What I liked about this book, even as I was shaking my head telling the character that was a bad idea, that they are flawed. Humans are not perfect, we make mistakes, and this book is filled with those flawed, realistic characters. People make mistake, and they are okay, the characters turned it around and made the best out of it.

This is the second book I have read by this author, and I think the library had a couple more by her that I will be reading sometime in the future.

More of my book reviews can be found at http://bookswithkari.blogspot.com/

[Margie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Easy to read and good characters!

[Missy Cox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Corrie seems a bit selfish to me. Sounds like she needs a good psychiatrist instead of a baby or husband.

[Patty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slow start, but a great read

[Gina Shupp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book I enjoy reading this author’s books that she written.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of soap opera in book form. I didn't feel like it was amazing but I couldn't put it down, so what do I know?!

[Mar Patro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Predictable...but kept you waiting for things to come together. Things you knew would. Kept adding new facets to plot to give more depth. In the end everyone was a winner. Classic Hallmark

[Kendall Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was such an easy read—I felt like I could never put it down once I picked it up. Very well written and I loved the story line

[Lacee Hooper · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. I kept waiting for something to happen and it never did.

[McGuffy Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are many forms of love. In this novel, the resilience of love is both evident and sustaining, however fragile it may be.

This is a novel of two very different women who are longtime friends. Though they lead very different lives, their bond is a constant acceptance and strength for each woman.

Corrie has had a difficult childhood, but has risen above it all to marry a successful attorney. It is not the life she once planned, but it is a very good life. The one thing missing is a much desired baby.

Bryn is a free spirit in a longtime relationship with someone who will never offer her stability. Suddenly that is exactly what she finds she needs. She must make serious decisions for her future, and who it will involve.

Their friendship deepens to a new level as they find themselves in an unusual kind of role reversal. They are drawn even closer together to figure things out in new ways.

A college reunion brings Corrie face to face with her past. The love of her life returns, and he is looking for her. Abruptly leaving town many years before broke Corrie’s heart, affecting her forever. Now that he is back, she is faced with serious soul searching.

The characters in this novel are tightly woven and very human. Their plights, emotions, choices and decisions are all very genuine. The reader is immediately drawn into their world.

Sherri Wood Emmons delivers another novel of real situations and characters that you can believe in, hope for and care about. She is a gifted author. I have read every one of her novels, from her first. I look forward to each novel, and am always very pleased with her work. I highly recommend her books.

[Julie Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Weight of Small Things by Sheri Wood Emmons
Chapters alternate between the past and the present. Corrie and Mark are married and she wants to give him kids so bad but she keeps failing.
She had gone to college but still helped out at home because after her father died, he was a professor at the college, her mother took up drinking with her sister and brother left to raise.
Bryn had met and roomed with Carrie many years ago and stayed in the area, her love interest is Paul and she's pregnant.
Corrie has met with Daniel, an old boyfriend because he wants her to write an article about his children's project on the west coast. She will travel to CA for photos and the story while her husband Mark is in NY doing his work.
After her return she gets into her normal work pattern and finds Daniel on her doorstep after work. He's stalking her and she tells him she is not in love with him and he spends the night at Bob's who's got the boys staying with him, and Bryn.
Secrets, lying, deceit and it's from many of the characters. I wonder if their lives will ever be straightened out.
As time goes on and they both find themselves pregnant they are able to talk to one another about their relationships and decide what to do with their lives. Love how close the two women are and have the same thing going on, but different.
Interesting to hear how they mull things over and come to a decision that works for them.
Just when you think that both women have endured enough, a tornado blows through their town...
I received this book from Kennsington Books in exchange for my honest opinion

[Jacquline · Rating 2 out of 5]

This has to be one of the dumbest books that I have ever read. Literally, if I took out every sentence that said "and her eyes teared up," or "she sat down and cried," the book would be half its length. In every chapter, someone is crying. On almost every page, someone is crying. Like seriously?! I did not like a single character in this book except for Bob because he was real, a single father trying to raise his kids, giving his wife multiple chances to prove that she could be a good wife and mother, that is, before she crossed the line. Bob falls in love with Bryn, who is knocked up by her longtime lover, Paul. Bryn and Bob decide they will raise the baby together, while taking care of Micah and Cody. Now, Bryn's best friend, Corrie, cheated on her husband, Mark with her ex-lover, Daniel. That is way too much drama in the book. Mark leaves Corrie, and in the end, Daniel decides to leave his life in California behind to raise their baby. Way. Too. Much. Drama. The only reason why this book received two stars is because Emmons knows how to set a scene and bring forth emotions from readers. Other than that, this book was ridiculous. After about fifty pages into it, I couldn't wait to be done with it. No wonder I bought this book at the dollar store. It is not worth reading. I will never recommend this book to anyone unless they are going through something this stupid in their lives. What a waste of time. Before this review ends, I just have to note that every chapter ends with an action, pretty much meaning that someone cried. How boring to end a chapter the same way every time!