Lucy Green arriveert in een zinderend heet Florida om te zorgen voor haar moeder, die terminaal ziek is. Terwijl Lucy worstelt met het naderende verlies van haar moeder, denkt ze terug aan haar jeugd. Tijdens een noodlottige zomer resulteert een storm in een verbijsterend ongeluk dat het gezin totaal ontreddert. Eén herinnering echter is Lucy zeer dierbaar: een middernachtelijke zwempartij met haar moeder. Dat brengt haar op de gedachte dat er dankbaarheid bestaat in deze ondankbare wereld, een constateringg die haar helpt haar moeder te vergeven en haar, uiteindelijk, te laten gaan...
My mom, dying of pancreatic cancer, gave me this book in 2008 and told me it reminded her of us. The first time I read it, I didn’t see it. I thought maybe she was just sensationalizing it because she was dying and everything was profound. Fourteen years later in a fit of boredom, I picked it up and decided to try again.
The story was touching but I had a hard time following at times. One minute she was in present time and the next would be 15 years earlier. I scrolled Back and forth a number of times trying to figure out where the story was going.
I enjoyed the writing style. I could easily envision what was happening in every scene; I felt like I was there. However, the way the chapters change years was often very confusing. It would have been much easier to follow if the chapters were labeled with a year instead of a chapter number.
This book captured the up-and-down relationships between families, all of the love and complications, and the bond between women. I loved every painful, funny, meaningful word.
I liked it, and I liked the author's voice and style. But what confused me as a reader was that each chapter could take place in a variety of timeframes. The author was simultaneously telling stories from the characters' childhood, young adulthood and current day, so chapter by chapter I had to jump back and forth in time so many times, it made my head spin. Frankly, I got tired of it, hence the 3 stars. Other than that, I liked it.
The book started off a bit slow but was an interesting look at one woman's family experience and the dynamics between her and her mother/father/sister and how you do what you have to do for those you love.
This book was about a daughter caring for her dying mother. The most memorable moment in the daughter's life was the night her mother took her skinny dipping at a lake by their summer vacation house. It's about the things that shape us and make us different from even our siblings.
I'm a sucker for coming-of-age themes, but must confess that since I seemed to have liked it more than virtually anyone else, I might need to give it a second (and more close) look.
When i bought this book, i thought it would be a quick read, but it really got to me, i could find parts of myself in Lucy and the relationship between her and her mother Faye.
This is mostly a girl's book, although sensitive and caring men--like me (?)--who need a break from our diet of explosions and bloodletting can also enjoy it.