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Closing the Gap
They say you can never go home again. Danielle wishes it was true. When Danielle left Tipples Gap years ago, she vowed she’d never return. But now, with the decades-old underground coal fire threatening to destroy her hometown, Danielle must go home to accomplish the impossible. Her mother, a hoarder who cannot bear to leave her precious belongings behind, has to move before her house burns down. Danielle is the only one who can make her do it. She has steeled herself to face the emotions returning to her childhood home will surface, but is surprised by the feelings that arise when she runs into her high school flame, Isaac, the only law enforcer left in the dying town.
246 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 12, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 16, 2019
Heartening tales of hoarding, romance and freedom. Highly recommend.
Educational ... re: hoarding
Educational ... re: hoarding
November 23, 2015
Great book!
Excellent writing, and very interesting story about a dying coal town. I didn't know there could be a subterranean fire that existed for over 20 years, that slowly consumed the life of all nature and could suddenly engulf a house in flames. It's like having a subterranean serpent, except of fire. Danielle left town 8 years ago, right after high school and left behind a boyfriend, Isaac. Now she's back home to help her sister move their mother from their house due to the fire hazard. Seems the underground fire is circling close to town. The task is a difficult one because their mother is a hoarder. This made the story so interesting and a direct hit to me, since my mother was a hoarder too. I could empathize perfectly with Danielle and her sister with the frustration of dealing with their mother, the impossibility of making their mother see reality and understanding the need to organize their stuff. A particular scene where they had discarded a lot of junk in trash bags and the mother arrived and brought back all the trash back to the house sparked the same anger in me as in the characters, because I had lived a similar scene. Kudos to the author for the realistic and humanitarian portrayal of a mental illness. I learned a lot in this book.
The romantic part of the book felt very downplayed. Only the feelings and musings of Danielle are shown, and there weren't any love scenes. The suspense caused by the fire seemed to be the driving force in the book and Danielle's re-awakening love for Isaac felt like second place, behind the fire and dealing with her mom's hoarding. Great story anyway!
Excellent writing, and very interesting story about a dying coal town. I didn't know there could be a subterranean fire that existed for over 20 years, that slowly consumed the life of all nature and could suddenly engulf a house in flames. It's like having a subterranean serpent, except of fire. Danielle left town 8 years ago, right after high school and left behind a boyfriend, Isaac. Now she's back home to help her sister move their mother from their house due to the fire hazard. Seems the underground fire is circling close to town. The task is a difficult one because their mother is a hoarder. This made the story so interesting and a direct hit to me, since my mother was a hoarder too. I could empathize perfectly with Danielle and her sister with the frustration of dealing with their mother, the impossibility of making their mother see reality and understanding the need to organize their stuff. A particular scene where they had discarded a lot of junk in trash bags and the mother arrived and brought back all the trash back to the house sparked the same anger in me as in the characters, because I had lived a similar scene. Kudos to the author for the realistic and humanitarian portrayal of a mental illness. I learned a lot in this book.
The romantic part of the book felt very downplayed. Only the feelings and musings of Danielle are shown, and there weren't any love scenes. The suspense caused by the fire seemed to be the driving force in the book and Danielle's re-awakening love for Isaac felt like second place, behind the fire and dealing with her mom's hoarding. Great story anyway!
July 8, 2015
Good well researched story.
I found story written with better than average writing and obviously well researched content. No silly fairy tale romance but rather a believable story with a pleasant ending. Christian content also more believable than many stories out there today. I'm not sure how realistic the mother's cure of her hoarding is but then I have no personal experiences of it either. Certainly this is one book I would happily pass on if I had a paper copy. Well done to the author.
I found story written with better than average writing and obviously well researched content. No silly fairy tale romance but rather a believable story with a pleasant ending. Christian content also more believable than many stories out there today. I'm not sure how realistic the mother's cure of her hoarding is but then I have no personal experiences of it either. Certainly this is one book I would happily pass on if I had a paper copy. Well done to the author.
June 29, 2015
Amazing story!!! The author does an excellent job of bringing depth and feeling to the characters and issues covered in this novel.
May 16, 2016
Liked it a lot.
May 22, 2016
So they finally took her and her memories out safely
Maybe this statement gives it away, but they inevitable is there. So it is. But the way to it is remarkable.
Maybe this statement gives it away, but they inevitable is there. So it is. But the way to it is remarkable.
June 19, 2016
Well written, interesting in reading how people ignore, excuse, conceal hoarding. A nice romance, too
April 19, 2017
Closing the Gap
Having grown up in coal mining country and remembering a slate pile near the closest mine that burned for all the years of my childhood, this story brought back a lot of memories. Though our community never burned or had to be abandoned we did live with the smoke and smell of fire and we rushed whenever the siren went off indicating an accident. We lost our post mistress when her home and several others were buried beneath a mountain of sludge from an over used wash basin called a sludge pond that collapsed and slid off the mountain and into the little hollow ( valley ) below the mine. Coal mining is a dangerous occupation and the miners and their families often pay a tremendous price to provide the rest of us with electricity and heat. I found this book to be a very good representation of the life and closeness of a typical coal mining community.
Having grown up in coal mining country and remembering a slate pile near the closest mine that burned for all the years of my childhood, this story brought back a lot of memories. Though our community never burned or had to be abandoned we did live with the smoke and smell of fire and we rushed whenever the siren went off indicating an accident. We lost our post mistress when her home and several others were buried beneath a mountain of sludge from an over used wash basin called a sludge pond that collapsed and slid off the mountain and into the little hollow ( valley ) below the mine. Coal mining is a dangerous occupation and the miners and their families often pay a tremendous price to provide the rest of us with electricity and heat. I found this book to be a very good representation of the life and closeness of a typical coal mining community.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews