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Life in a Box
How much would you sacrifice to hide a secret? The answer reveals itself as Andee Camp, after inheriting a box of old photographs and journals, accepts a challenge from her mother to write a novel based on their family. What evolves is not only the fulfillment of a dream, but the reality of her relationship with her parents and theirs with each other. As Andee writes the stories of two sets of twins born on the same day seventeen hundred miles apart, the mysteries defining the Smith and Brown families become more poignant as the pieces in the complicated puzzle begin to fit together.The very fabric of long-held truths unravel in a tapestry woven with love and betrayal, joy and tragedy, humor and melancholy. As a reader, if given the opportunity, would you like to examine your own life in a box?Life in a Box is a roller coaster ride until the very end providing a blend of mystery and history as the colorful and memorable characters come alive on the pages. It is like leaping off the diving board and seeing the sky from the bottom of the pool. When the author breaks through the ripples, readers understand the depth of the layered story...a literary gem.
- GenresFiction
278 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 2, 2017
About the author
JoDee Neathery
4 books1,097 followersJoDee Neathery, drawing from her Southern California and Texas roots,
plucked a few personalities off the family tree, encasing their world inside fictional
events to create her debut award-winning literary novel, Life in a Box published July 2017. Her latest work - a 2022 finalist in the 16th annual National Indie Excellence Awards - A Kind of Hush - is a literary mystery full of intrigue and unforgettable characters exploring whether there is a gray area between right and wrong as a moment in time changed a family forever. Follow the Mackie's journey toward growth and recovery and embrace the insight, innocence, and wisdom of a seven-year-old boy who is instrumental in pulling the family forward.
JoDee spent her professional life in the banking industry, prior to branching
out into the executive recruiting business. Upon relocating to East Texas, JoDee spent six years handling public relations for a non-profit, writing freelance articles for the
newspaper, trade publications, newsletters, installation ceremony scripts, and
sadly a few obituaries.
Her dream “job” has been chairing, writing minutes, and reviews for her ninety-three
member book club, Bookers, for eighteen years. "My book club was instrumental in my writing journey....they believed in me before I did."
She also enjoys a byline, Back Porch Musings, a lighthearted view of life
in general, in an area newspaper.
She and her husband live in close proximity to their only daughter, son-in-law,
two grandsons, a bird dog, four cats, a donkey, and a few head of cattle.
plucked a few personalities off the family tree, encasing their world inside fictional
events to create her debut award-winning literary novel, Life in a Box published July 2017. Her latest work - a 2022 finalist in the 16th annual National Indie Excellence Awards - A Kind of Hush - is a literary mystery full of intrigue and unforgettable characters exploring whether there is a gray area between right and wrong as a moment in time changed a family forever. Follow the Mackie's journey toward growth and recovery and embrace the insight, innocence, and wisdom of a seven-year-old boy who is instrumental in pulling the family forward.
JoDee spent her professional life in the banking industry, prior to branching
out into the executive recruiting business. Upon relocating to East Texas, JoDee spent six years handling public relations for a non-profit, writing freelance articles for the
newspaper, trade publications, newsletters, installation ceremony scripts, and
sadly a few obituaries.
Her dream “job” has been chairing, writing minutes, and reviews for her ninety-three
member book club, Bookers, for eighteen years. "My book club was instrumental in my writing journey....they believed in me before I did."
She also enjoys a byline, Back Porch Musings, a lighthearted view of life
in general, in an area newspaper.
She and her husband live in close proximity to their only daughter, son-in-law,
two grandsons, a bird dog, four cats, a donkey, and a few head of cattle.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 16, 2017
People, Places, Intrique, and a mystery solved, I think
Reading at the same time as my wife, me on Kindle her on a hard back, had to work at getting the books characters straight. Once done, I was into the mystery.
I enjoyed the detail on the people and places and got caught up in familiar places.
We both took different paths in solving the mystery and the book was hard to put down.
Now want to hear more about the Smith's and Brown's
Reading at the same time as my wife, me on Kindle her on a hard back, had to work at getting the books characters straight. Once done, I was into the mystery.
I enjoyed the detail on the people and places and got caught up in familiar places.
We both took different paths in solving the mystery and the book was hard to put down.
Now want to hear more about the Smith's and Brown's
December 5, 2017
Life in a box is a novel written in a memoir style. It is a mystery story spanning over generations situated in Texas and Southern California. The tale begins with two dead bodies and one other in critical condition. Andee is a family member of one of the victims. As the police and family beg to understand and unravel why this has all happened, she is given a container filled with photographs and a journal that provides some information that may be helpful.
What then transpires is some romance, families merging into one, and piece by piece of the puzzle becoming unraveled to the reader’s eyes.
The literature was in good standing, and it was written with a nice form of flow, however, due to the large casting of characters and families, it was sometimes hard to follow who was who. This also meant that each character was not developed to its core since there were too many to do.
The story was interesting in giving bits of information as the reader went on reading the book. There wasn’t any part of the story where you would feel cheated on or thought that it dragged just so the author would add unnecessary suspense to the story.
I recommend this book to people that like to read suspenseful stories.
What then transpires is some romance, families merging into one, and piece by piece of the puzzle becoming unraveled to the reader’s eyes.
The literature was in good standing, and it was written with a nice form of flow, however, due to the large casting of characters and families, it was sometimes hard to follow who was who. This also meant that each character was not developed to its core since there were too many to do.
The story was interesting in giving bits of information as the reader went on reading the book. There wasn’t any part of the story where you would feel cheated on or thought that it dragged just so the author would add unnecessary suspense to the story.
I recommend this book to people that like to read suspenseful stories.
January 17, 2018
“Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.”- Horace
Texas author JoDee Neatherly has had a career in banking, the recruiting business with an exclusive contract with TracyLocke Public Relations and Bustin & Company in Dallas, and Creamer Dickson Basford in New York, public relations for a non-profit, and writing freelance articles for the newspaper, trade publications, newsletters, and chairing, writing minutes, and reviews for her ninety-three member book club, Bookers, for the past thirteen years. She also enjoys a byline, Back Porch Musings, a light-hearted view of life in general, in an area newspaper. Now she makes an auspicious debut with LIFE IN A BOX.
For this first novel she states she ‘has taken the personalities of several of the characters from my own family, but most of the actual events detailed in the novel are fabricated. The relationship between twins Victoria Jeanne and Benjamin Thomas is realistic as is that of Catherine and Fulton. Andee Camp's insecurities and desire to write a novel mirrors my own. The Brown twins are fictional but Will's character epitomizes my own father's sense of humor and nature. Hilda Hatter Otter was a "real" imaginary friend to my Aunt Kaga.’
Because her story involves two families – the Browns and the Smiths - she presents family trees before the journey begins, and then she opens her tale in Athena, Texas in 2001 with sparkling prose: ‘Andee Camp cradled a leather-bound book as if the spine anchoring her novel together cracked, the narrative would be lost. She likened her joy to the rapture of discovering a Tiffany glass skylight concealed by layers of paint intended to hide its presence and beauty. From her bedroom window, she spotted a white-tailed doe enjoying a meal of tropical plumeria with her speckled fawn. The pair looked up when she tapped on the glass, darting off searching for a yellow rosebud lunch. She and husband Scott reveled in the tranquility of their home near a sleepy lake and golf course community in East Texas, moons away from their hectic travel schedules. The neighborhood treasures, blue herons and white egrets dipping in among the native hickory, oak, and pine canopies, mockingbirds chasing squirrels, twittering cardinals and robins, created a home like Thoreau’s Walden. Summer months dripped with heat and humidity, and in the fall, flocks of white pelicans migrating from Canada stopped by before journeying farther south. Andee had turned her passion of the written word into a career reviewing literature, adopting a character’s persona and offering a unique point of view and innovative presentations. Scott, an Alabama product with a family golf pedigree, enjoyed a partnership with Andee’s father in an international golf course design business. Both calendars demanded the organizational skills of a presidential assistant. However, another reoccurrence of melanoma threatened to derail her future. Andee now qualified for an immunotherapy clinical trial combining radiation and drugs. The doctors hoped, by taking advantage of the great strides in metastasis research, this treatment protocol would eliminate the tumors tied to the deadliest form of skin cancers.’
The synopsis gels the book’s course well – ‘Love drama touched with tenderness and laughter? How far would you go to protect a secret? It is a parallel story of a mother's challenge to her daughter to fulfill a dream and a saga of two sets of twins born on the same day seventeen-hundred miles apart whose lives connect in Southern California forming a bond lasting three-quarters of a century. Andee Camp inherits a box of family history after tragedy strikes along with a challenge to write a novel based on her ancestors. To fulfill this dream, she would exchange her book reviewer hat for one of a writer, forcing the seeds of self-doubt aside. With obstacles littering her path, she discovers the mystery surrounding her relationship with her parents and theirs with each other alongside new pieces in a complicated puzzle.’
Reading JoDee’s book creates a hunger for more: let’s hope this fine novel will be followed by others.
Texas author JoDee Neatherly has had a career in banking, the recruiting business with an exclusive contract with TracyLocke Public Relations and Bustin & Company in Dallas, and Creamer Dickson Basford in New York, public relations for a non-profit, and writing freelance articles for the newspaper, trade publications, newsletters, and chairing, writing minutes, and reviews for her ninety-three member book club, Bookers, for the past thirteen years. She also enjoys a byline, Back Porch Musings, a light-hearted view of life in general, in an area newspaper. Now she makes an auspicious debut with LIFE IN A BOX.
For this first novel she states she ‘has taken the personalities of several of the characters from my own family, but most of the actual events detailed in the novel are fabricated. The relationship between twins Victoria Jeanne and Benjamin Thomas is realistic as is that of Catherine and Fulton. Andee Camp's insecurities and desire to write a novel mirrors my own. The Brown twins are fictional but Will's character epitomizes my own father's sense of humor and nature. Hilda Hatter Otter was a "real" imaginary friend to my Aunt Kaga.’
Because her story involves two families – the Browns and the Smiths - she presents family trees before the journey begins, and then she opens her tale in Athena, Texas in 2001 with sparkling prose: ‘Andee Camp cradled a leather-bound book as if the spine anchoring her novel together cracked, the narrative would be lost. She likened her joy to the rapture of discovering a Tiffany glass skylight concealed by layers of paint intended to hide its presence and beauty. From her bedroom window, she spotted a white-tailed doe enjoying a meal of tropical plumeria with her speckled fawn. The pair looked up when she tapped on the glass, darting off searching for a yellow rosebud lunch. She and husband Scott reveled in the tranquility of their home near a sleepy lake and golf course community in East Texas, moons away from their hectic travel schedules. The neighborhood treasures, blue herons and white egrets dipping in among the native hickory, oak, and pine canopies, mockingbirds chasing squirrels, twittering cardinals and robins, created a home like Thoreau’s Walden. Summer months dripped with heat and humidity, and in the fall, flocks of white pelicans migrating from Canada stopped by before journeying farther south. Andee had turned her passion of the written word into a career reviewing literature, adopting a character’s persona and offering a unique point of view and innovative presentations. Scott, an Alabama product with a family golf pedigree, enjoyed a partnership with Andee’s father in an international golf course design business. Both calendars demanded the organizational skills of a presidential assistant. However, another reoccurrence of melanoma threatened to derail her future. Andee now qualified for an immunotherapy clinical trial combining radiation and drugs. The doctors hoped, by taking advantage of the great strides in metastasis research, this treatment protocol would eliminate the tumors tied to the deadliest form of skin cancers.’
The synopsis gels the book’s course well – ‘Love drama touched with tenderness and laughter? How far would you go to protect a secret? It is a parallel story of a mother's challenge to her daughter to fulfill a dream and a saga of two sets of twins born on the same day seventeen-hundred miles apart whose lives connect in Southern California forming a bond lasting three-quarters of a century. Andee Camp inherits a box of family history after tragedy strikes along with a challenge to write a novel based on her ancestors. To fulfill this dream, she would exchange her book reviewer hat for one of a writer, forcing the seeds of self-doubt aside. With obstacles littering her path, she discovers the mystery surrounding her relationship with her parents and theirs with each other alongside new pieces in a complicated puzzle.’
Reading JoDee’s book creates a hunger for more: let’s hope this fine novel will be followed by others.
December 24, 2019
JoDee Neathery gives reading fans of saga fiction, an absorbing look into how family lives can be intertwined in many ways, often from one extreme to another. Two sets of twins are the foundation that makes this a compelling rollercoaster ride. Lifestyles of the twins provide some insights into how wealth and means can provide delightful diversions in delightful destinations and yet not ordain one’s choices.
Rich, vivid descriptions of the people, places, and things depicted in the story bring readers into the story as active participants. Having been to several of these places the accuracy lends additional depth to the story.
Each of the characters are artfully described as people with interactions and banter which bring the entire array of emotions experienced in life. The twins, VJ and Ben, are so attuned to one another, make conversations and memories delightfully honest, with a bit of tongue in check. An early sample that made these characters serious and funny captured me.
“VJ and Ben enjoyed a connection beyond sharing the same womb. They had been off-and-on companions for years as VJ and her husband Will shuffled between marriage and estrangement.
“Ben, I’ve discovered why your Bermuda shorts won’t button anymore.”
“Was it on the evening news or Days of our Lives?”
“This is serious. I know what’s causing your muffin top.”
“I’m a little old to worry what I look like in my speedo.”
“Our bodies co-exist with trillions of germs. For every human cell, there are ten bacterial cells. And here’s the kicker, a two-hundred-pound person carries six pounds of bacteria!”
“So, my muffin top is nothing more than an amphitheater of microbes. So now what?”
“Nothing. It just explains another mystery in life’s natural design. A high-top girdle would disguise it.” VJ smiled at her brother. “Just sayin.”
“I can tell you right now I’m not happy about this natural process hooey. I’ve got enough hair in my ears and nose to braid, and with this neck, I ought to be on the most wanted list for Thanksgiving…”
Andee Camp’s quest to complete a family novel takes her from joy to despair during her journey. Her health issues at times show her great strength. Many readers will be able to relate to Andee at multiple level. She is enjoyable.
I really liked the character development of Andee’s husband, Scott. He is portrayed with strength that Andee can rely upon even at the bleakest of times. Scott repeatedly shows his love, concern, and, even protection of Andee. He allows her to take the clues her way as she digs into the family mystery until its unsettling resolution.
The time stamps within the book help provide a timeline and frame of reference which can be tricky, yet here it is done well. It makes it a story that I would recommend to readers who enjoy family history, secrets, and relationships expressed in a vivid reality.
Rich, vivid descriptions of the people, places, and things depicted in the story bring readers into the story as active participants. Having been to several of these places the accuracy lends additional depth to the story.
Each of the characters are artfully described as people with interactions and banter which bring the entire array of emotions experienced in life. The twins, VJ and Ben, are so attuned to one another, make conversations and memories delightfully honest, with a bit of tongue in check. An early sample that made these characters serious and funny captured me.
“VJ and Ben enjoyed a connection beyond sharing the same womb. They had been off-and-on companions for years as VJ and her husband Will shuffled between marriage and estrangement.
“Ben, I’ve discovered why your Bermuda shorts won’t button anymore.”
“Was it on the evening news or Days of our Lives?”
“This is serious. I know what’s causing your muffin top.”
“I’m a little old to worry what I look like in my speedo.”
“Our bodies co-exist with trillions of germs. For every human cell, there are ten bacterial cells. And here’s the kicker, a two-hundred-pound person carries six pounds of bacteria!”
“So, my muffin top is nothing more than an amphitheater of microbes. So now what?”
“Nothing. It just explains another mystery in life’s natural design. A high-top girdle would disguise it.” VJ smiled at her brother. “Just sayin.”
“I can tell you right now I’m not happy about this natural process hooey. I’ve got enough hair in my ears and nose to braid, and with this neck, I ought to be on the most wanted list for Thanksgiving…”
Andee Camp’s quest to complete a family novel takes her from joy to despair during her journey. Her health issues at times show her great strength. Many readers will be able to relate to Andee at multiple level. She is enjoyable.
I really liked the character development of Andee’s husband, Scott. He is portrayed with strength that Andee can rely upon even at the bleakest of times. Scott repeatedly shows his love, concern, and, even protection of Andee. He allows her to take the clues her way as she digs into the family mystery until its unsettling resolution.
The time stamps within the book help provide a timeline and frame of reference which can be tricky, yet here it is done well. It makes it a story that I would recommend to readers who enjoy family history, secrets, and relationships expressed in a vivid reality.
September 24, 2017
In Life in a Box, a novel by JoDee Neathery, readers meet two families, the Smiths and the Browns. Their names might be common, but their stories are anything but. Both families gave birth to twins born on the same day. Whether by coincidence, fate or circumstances, the families became inextricably linked to each other. After a tragedy, a daughter was requested to write a novel about her family. She received a box filled with family documents and eventually a shocking secret was uncovered. Where will it lead?
This book is a literary masterpiece. There is a large group of precisely crafted and fascinating characters, some weak, some mean, some strong and some vulnerable. They are all memorable and certainly not stereotypical. The novel is infused with lush descriptions of food, place and feelings. This is an intensely vibrant and multilayered story. Slowly we are shown what a baffled daughter discovers from her research and that is the power of this beautifully written story. I was totally engrossed in this story to the very end. Life in a Box is a must read. Highly recommended.
This book is a literary masterpiece. There is a large group of precisely crafted and fascinating characters, some weak, some mean, some strong and some vulnerable. They are all memorable and certainly not stereotypical. The novel is infused with lush descriptions of food, place and feelings. This is an intensely vibrant and multilayered story. Slowly we are shown what a baffled daughter discovers from her research and that is the power of this beautifully written story. I was totally engrossed in this story to the very end. Life in a Box is a must read. Highly recommended.
December 13, 2019
This is an entertaining, well-arranged fiction. It is a life story dripping with humor that’s expressed in a thought-provoking style. Life in a Box boasts of several themes; history, mystery, death, family, love, betrayal and sickness. It chronicles the lives of The Smiths and The Browns in a chain of interconnecting events that led to their union. Their story is revealed through memorabilia gifted to one descendant of the united Smith-Brown family. Her name was Andee Camp, bestowed with the responsibility of documenting the family’s history.
Life in a Box is presented from an intellectual perspective with dense-but-thrilling language that enhances its content quality. The plot of the book is presented in a back-and-forth chronological structure. JoDee Neathery, however, provides clues on how to understand its flow and its characters thus making it easy to follow. Once you get the flow of the book and ease into how its content is brought forth, you will not want to put it down. However, you will need the aid of a dictionary to get you through its rich choice of vocabulary.
The tone of Life in a Box portrays a light-hearted entertainer who has an upper hand when it comes to the sense of humor. Her constant and rich supply of laughter in the character conversations put me in high spirits besides unleashing my funny bone. Her choice of words and phrases is appealing. I had a chance to improve my grammar through the book with the addition of some new vocabulary and new phrases.
I liked most her choice and use of philosophical language since it blends well with the aristocratic setting of the storyline. I also liked her progression of hilarious characters throughout the book, starting with Benjamin Thomas. I couldn’t stop smiling as I read their rib-tickling conversations. I least liked the way some problems were left unclear, for example, the author mentioned Andee’s skin cancer in the start but left us hanging about its progression and conclusion. In addition, it was not clear how Sonny died, whether he drowned accidentally, committed suicide or was killed. I least liked it because it failed to fully satisfy my curiosity.
I recommend Life in a Box to readers who love novels written in philosophical language. Additionally, to those who enjoy a little sense of humor and those who love mystery. I will not rate this book a 4 due to the errors and for the fact that the story was left incomplete in some areas. I won’t rate it a 2 since the whole book is appealing and very readable. I rate Life in a Box 4 out of 5 stars.
Life in a Box is presented from an intellectual perspective with dense-but-thrilling language that enhances its content quality. The plot of the book is presented in a back-and-forth chronological structure. JoDee Neathery, however, provides clues on how to understand its flow and its characters thus making it easy to follow. Once you get the flow of the book and ease into how its content is brought forth, you will not want to put it down. However, you will need the aid of a dictionary to get you through its rich choice of vocabulary.
The tone of Life in a Box portrays a light-hearted entertainer who has an upper hand when it comes to the sense of humor. Her constant and rich supply of laughter in the character conversations put me in high spirits besides unleashing my funny bone. Her choice of words and phrases is appealing. I had a chance to improve my grammar through the book with the addition of some new vocabulary and new phrases.
I liked most her choice and use of philosophical language since it blends well with the aristocratic setting of the storyline. I also liked her progression of hilarious characters throughout the book, starting with Benjamin Thomas. I couldn’t stop smiling as I read their rib-tickling conversations. I least liked the way some problems were left unclear, for example, the author mentioned Andee’s skin cancer in the start but left us hanging about its progression and conclusion. In addition, it was not clear how Sonny died, whether he drowned accidentally, committed suicide or was killed. I least liked it because it failed to fully satisfy my curiosity.
I recommend Life in a Box to readers who love novels written in philosophical language. Additionally, to those who enjoy a little sense of humor and those who love mystery. I will not rate this book a 4 due to the errors and for the fact that the story was left incomplete in some areas. I won’t rate it a 2 since the whole book is appealing and very readable. I rate Life in a Box 4 out of 5 stars.
April 18, 2020
Why a mother decides to leave world in suspicious circumstances and leave inheritance of mystery box to her only child Andee Camp. VJ left pecuniary benefits, and also a request to Andee to write the novel about her famous family history. I was intrigued with this weird last wish- storyline.
Two families Smiths and Browns, Two sets of twins born on same day and somehow all connected through two marriages and murder mystery.
This suspense story is spanning over generations and author has managed to describe it with ethnicity.
Unfortunately, almost first 25 % novel was very baffling because of too many characters introduction. Sometimes I felt a unwarranted place descriptions and detailing were interfering with main storyline. But as death mystery started, pace of novel changed. This novel is meant for historical fictional plot readers.
Two families Smiths and Browns, Two sets of twins born on same day and somehow all connected through two marriages and murder mystery.
This suspense story is spanning over generations and author has managed to describe it with ethnicity.
Unfortunately, almost first 25 % novel was very baffling because of too many characters introduction. Sometimes I felt a unwarranted place descriptions and detailing were interfering with main storyline. But as death mystery started, pace of novel changed. This novel is meant for historical fictional plot readers.
November 30, 2020
A rather pleasant read with a few twists and turns. I admit it took me a while to get into the style of this book. It took about 20% before I finally engaged with the characters and storyline but, after that, I was keen to see where the storyline went. It wasn't the sweetness and roses saccharine sweet book that I feared but many of the characters were quite simply human. It isn't dramatically fast paced but it is a nice read that kept me engaged once I got into it until the end.
September 25, 2020
An engaging novel of suspense that weaves past and present to reveal a terrible secret and its consequences. Read my full review below.
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