De si bons amis

by Joyce Maynard

Un roman saisissant sur l'amitié et la trahison

Quand Ava et Swift Havilland, couple fortuné, décident de prendre sous leur aile Helen McCabe, celle-ci est au plus bas. À quarante ans, Helen a perdu la garde de son fils Oliver, huit ans, et partage sa semaine entre rencontres aux Alcooliques Anonymes, petits boulots de serveuse et soirées à faire défiler sur son écran les profils d'hommes célibataires de la région. Après s'être réfugiée depuis l'enfance derrière des récits de vies fantasmées pour masquer sa fragilité, elle trouve auprès des Havilland ce qu'elle a toujours désiré : se sentir unique et aimée.

Dès lors, la vie d'Helen est soumise aux moindres caprices du couple – dont la perversité prend des apparences de bienveillance –, les laissant même s'immiscer dans les prémices de sa relation avec Elliot, un comptable dont le quotidien simple et rangé attire le mépris de ses nouveaux amis. Jusqu'où Helen se laissera-t-elle manipuler par les Havilland, tandis qu'une seule chose compte à ses yeux : récupérer la garde d'Oliver ?

Dans ce roman à l'écriture fluide et rigoureusement construit, Joyce Maynard dresse le portrait d'une femme vulnérable et emporte le lecteur au coeur d'une angoissante prise de possession amicale. Jusqu'au moment où Helen sera placée devant un choix aussi imprévu que difficile...

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Audiobook, Book Club, Chick Lit, Womens Fiction, Adult

327 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 23, 2016

About the author

Joyce Maynard first came to national attention with the publication of her New York Times cover story “An Eighteen-Year-Old Looks Back on Life” in 1973, when she was a freshman at Yale. Since then, she has been a reporter and columnist for The New York Times, a syndicated newspaper columnist whose “Domestic Affairs” column appeared in more than fifty papers nationwide, a regular contributor to NPR. Her writing has also been published in national magazines, including O, The Oprah Magazine; Newsweek; The New York Times Magazine; Forbes; Salon; San Francisco Magazine, USA Weekly; and many more. She has appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, CNN, Hardball with Chris Matthews, Charlie Rose, and on Fresh Air. Essays of hers appear in numerous collections. She has been a fellow at Yaddo, UCross, and The MacDowell Colony, where she wrote her most recently published novel, Labor Day.

The author of many books of fiction and nonfiction, including the novel To Die For (in which she also plays the role of Nicole Kidman’s attorney) and the bestselling memoir, At Home in the World, Maynard makes her home in Mill Valley, California. Her novel, The Usual Rules—a story about surviving loss—has been a favorite of book club audiences of all ages, and was chosen by the American Library Association as one of the ten best books for young readers for 2003.

Joyce Maynard also runs the Lake Atitlan Writing Workshop in Guatemala, founded in 2002.

Reviews

[Elyse Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

UPDATE: $1.99 kindle special. — PAGE TURNING contemporary NOVEL - takes place in the SF Bay Area

Update: With sad news....
Joyce Maynard's husband died on June 16th. Jim had pancreatic cancer. He fought a very brave battle for almost 2 years.
My heart goes out to Joyce. Joyce has been sharing touching memories of she and Jim from the days when they first met.

The song "Book of Love" by Peter Gabriel, was sung at their wedding .....by Joyce's assistant and extra daughter --which says just how she felt about marrying Jim. They spent 4.5 years together. Joyce says she will miss Jim forever and feels his fierce love still.

Bless you Joyce! So deeply sorry for your loss.






**Joyce Maynard**.....I don't think I can say enough wonderful things about Joyce Maynard. I LOVE this woman. I LOVE this author!

Joyce's writing is so engrossing....pulsing with life ....( brittle, fragile, sharp, and real), that we are quickly absorbed into this mournful yet ultimately life-affirming novel
This book is to be read slowly ( but you'll read it quickly), as its imbued with empathy ....
I wanted to savor the luminous prose. I wanted to rush to the end ... yet stave off reaching the last page. Needless to say...my entire being pulsated with this novel.

For readers who have read at least a half dozen books written by Joyce...we begin to see a common theme in all her books. Joyce is quite accomplished developing deeply flawed - enthralling - benignant characters. Every book Joyce has ever written has
Indelible characters ---( emotionally wrenching characters....painted with tenderness and truth)

This is Joyce's 9th novel ...a-cautionary-tale!
Helen is the central character. She is 'down-an-out'... ( a dreadful divorce, and lost custody of her son, following a drunken driving arrest).
Working for a caterer, at an upscale SF art opening, she meets philanthropists Ava and Swift Havilland. Ava, confined to a wheelchair. Ava takes an interest in Helen....( inviting her into her life of the wealthy - and privileged). Helen's entire life changes.
Ava and Swift established a charity committed to rescuing dogs. Helen almost seems like another 'rescue' project for Ava.
Once Helen falls under the spell of her these new friends, Helen no longer has time to see her 1 other close friend, ( Alice).

Helen is insecure and desperate - struggling to trust listening to her own voice. She is not confident about having relationships work. It doesn't help that her parents made her feel invisible as a child. She seems to be "under-the-influence"...by everyone around her. At the same time we like Helen .. ( she is extremely loyal to her son Ollie...and overall we see her goodness - her desire to love and be loved).

Helen begins to reunite with her son - Ollie. Once Ollie meets Helen's friends...he becomes infatuated with Swift. Swift teaches Ollie to swim. Swift becomes a super-hero in Ollie's eyes. Lots of side stories going on between Ava & Swift - their housekeeper - Swift's older son...and Helen's ex- husband.
Around the time Ollie meets Swift & Ava, Helen meets Dwight... an accountant who is a kind- gentle - kind - man - with good morals - and thinks the world of Helen. Helen enjoys being with Dwight. It's the best relationship - functional - healthy - and happy --that she has ever had. Their relationship isn't firecrackers ... but it's real.
Swift, having stollen the heart of Helen's son, Ollie, is a flashy guy to compete with. Dwight looks boring to a 7 year old next to Swift. ( so Helen begins to have doubts about Dwight . Ollie and her friends all think Dwight is too dull and conservative.

Many questions will dig into your hearts....
Why might wealthy friends have more influence than less- wealthy friends?
Why do we allow our friends judgments to influence our choices in life partners?
Have you ever dropped a friend?
Has a friend ever dropped you?
Isn't it possible the loss of a friendship is as painful as a divorce?
This story allowed me to look at many friendships over the years....
This is not a book I'm done thinking about.

Joyce keeps the tension drumming on your chest right up to the final pages...
Juicy drama....
Piercing psychology ...and poignant understanding of how deeply people who love each other - hurt each other!

One of Joyce's Best!!!!!!

Loved...loved...loved....it!!!!!!

HIGHLY RECOMMEND TO ALL MY FEMALE FRIENDS .. and those special male friends!

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the beginning this novel has an insidious tone of a disaster waiting to happen. Well written with a beguiling and mixed cast of characters, they represent many of the people we meet in our actual lives. A young mother who loses custody of her son and is struggling emotionally and financially. A wealthy couple who offer her friendship and support. A young boy trying to find his way between two homes and a man who wants to be part of Helen's life but is stymied by her new friendship.

What is the true cost of friendship? How much are we willing to pay? From the beginning we are aware that something drastic and life changing happens at novel's end. Extremely well written, tightly plotted, I often felt like a fly on the wall observing someone's intimate life. We do get in close and personal with these characters and while I can't say I liked them, well except for Ollie and Elliot, they were so interesting and I really wanted to see where this was going. Many times I felt like shaking Helen and telling her to wake up. A book to get caught up in, an immersive read that fully engaged my emotions. I just love this author's work and how good she is at portraying life's trials and joys, people and their misfortunes.

ARC from publisher.

[PorshaJo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Life is hectic now. I'm traveling every other week for work. I start a book, I'm gone for a week, come back and I can't remember what I read. I just needed something comforting and soothing that would relax me. I immediately turned to Joyce Maynard and didn't look back. I just love her books. Every time I finish a book of hers, I want to dive right into the next one. But I need to pace myself as each one I read, I think...that is one less for me to discover.

Under the Influence tells the story of Helen. She's down on her luck right now. She's lost custody of her young son after a stupid mistake and it just doesn't seem like she will turn things around. She's a lonely woman, desperate for some semblance of a family or family life. Her ex husband has their son, she rarely gets to see him, and her ex husbands family turns her away. Then, she meets Ava and Swift Havilland and she thinks her life has turned around. Helen so wants that sense of belonging that she's just not a rational person. Ava and Swift Havilland are very, very wealthy and Helen is very impressionable and soon she falls shall we say....under the influence of the Havillands. But what does it take to make Helen open her eyes to her so called "friends".

I love this story. It's a slow moving story but it kept me on edge. The tension builds though out the book. I kept wanting to know what was to happen. You can feel it from the beginning that something terrible is going to happen. Helen is so naive and just dang stupid at times I wanted to shake her and yell 'wake up'. I kept wanting to hear more, see what would happen. And it helped too by listening to the audio narrated by Maynard herself. She's a wonderful narrator. But also, the Havillands, you could say they were under the influence too, of power and greed. The lengths that people will go to to show what a perfect life they have...or seem to have. I don't want to say more and give anything away. A great read and one that I'm sorry is over. Now, on to my next Maynard.

[Cheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a child, Helen made up stories about her the two people responsible for her birth – her parents. Her father more often, where he was, what he did for a living. She viewed her home as a kind of hell; anyplace was better than there. Reading was her only solace.

Stacks of library books under the covers of my bed: the thing that saved me.

She grows older, wants only to not be like her parents; with no idea what she really does want. Falling in love. Falling for the illusion of love, she learns about heartbreak. Still, she retains childish illusions about love. So when she meets Dwight, and Dwight tells her he always wanted a girl just like her, she wonders what kind of girl she needs to be, to become in order to be that girl.

I had developed, early on, the habit of low expectations, and of letting my life be directed by whatever person happened to come along who seemed to know better than I did what they were doing.

Inevitably, their marriage is doomed, but out of that union comes a son, Ollie. Her first real love. Followed again years later by heartache when she loses custody of her son, struggling with the loss, struggling with life.

It’s when she’s at this low point that she meets a couple, the woman befriends her, they’re very well-off, and well… they seem to know better than she what to do. What she should do. What she should wear. Who she should befriend. But her life has become so much more… more everything with them in it, and she truly believes they know what’s best for her. After all, look at their life! Everyone loves them! They have everything.

Including Helen, it seems. Wrapped around their beckoning fingers. And really, they’ve become her everything, her friends, and maybe with their support, she can slowly gain back custody of her son.

You feel the tension build from the beginning, slowly at first but with the knowledge that some twist will come along to change the seemingly smooth course. This is a very tightly woven story, not a lot of unnecessary meandering to lead you astray, they’re just a broken woman, her broken son, seemingly well-meaning friends who have been nothing but be overly generous, and yet…. There is an ever-present sense of “I should have known…”

This is the second of Joyce Maynard’s novels I’ve read. I read, and enjoyed Labor Day as well. Having lived in the Bay Area where Under the Influence takes place for more years of my life than not, it was easy to find myself revisiting places and times and people this story brought to mind.

[JanB · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the beginning of this tightly plotted story there's an impending sense of doom. The book starts off when Helen glimpses Ava in the back of a taxi. Ava is an old friend that she hasn't seen in years and the sighting sends her down memory lane to the events that led to the end of their friendship.

Helen was a lost soul when she met Ava. She was badly parented, divorced, and had recently lost custody of her young son. Ava and Swift are wealthy philanthropists who take an interest in Helen and soon she's under their spell. Under their influence. She had never been part of a loving family and when she met Ava, the promise of love, acceptance, and support, along with their lavish lifestyle, was difficult to resist.

There were moments I wanted to reach through the pages and shake some sense into Helen. It's so easy to judge flawed, vulnerable people if you haven't walked in their shoes, but I felt nothing but sympathy for her. It's a complicated story that makes you think long and hard about serious topics.

The ending.....well, I was holding my breath, and while it ended suddenly, I wrote the ending I wanted in my mind :)

Maynard has quickly become one of my favorite authors. Her writing is deceptively simple yet filled with nuance and depth - the mark of a great author. This was my second book by her and it won't be my last.

[Esil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Under the Influence got my attention from the beginning, and then it kept me reading – with an impending sense of dread. From the beginning, we know that something bad has happened in Helen’s life, and that it involves her former friend Ava. Helen catches a glimpse of Ada at an intersection. Helen hasn’t seen Ada for 10 years, but this sighting sets her off to recall the events leading up to the breakup of their friendship. Helen met Ada at a particularly low time in her life – she had recently lost custody of her young son – and Ada swooped in as an apparent rescuer. I won’t say more about the plot, other than to say that this is a very readable page turner – although this is not a thriller, it is definitely an emotional roller coaster. The narrative is carefully and tightly crafted. There are a lot of cringe making moments as we see Helen's lapses in judgment. But the lapses are human, and it’s hard not to have sympathy for Helen. This is a book about loneliness, desperation for family, charisma, neediness and entitlement. I have never read anything by Joyce Maynard. The writing is simple and the story not earth shattering, but the way Maynard develops the story through Helen’s eyes really pulled me in. Thank you to the publisher and Edelweiss for an opportunity to read what was meant to be an advance copy – I gather it was published a few days ago.

[Crumb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very, very good book. I enjoyed it because the characters were so relatable - which is something I really value in a book. I was so invested in finding out what was going to happen. I hated having to go to work because that meant I couldn't read! That is a true sign of a wonderful book. This was the first book I've read by Joyce Maynard, and it won't be my last! I give this book a 4.5/5! Perfect book for a book club, as well!

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only information that I had about Joyce Maynard before reading this novel was that she previously had an affair with J. D. Salinger. I’m glad that I decided to see if she could also write because I thoroughly enjoyed this novel.

The story unspools slowly in the beginning; and, I became a bit impatient waiting for an epiphany moment from Helen that should cause her to rethink her choice of friends.

It was a great audio…an immersive, all consuming read. I plan to check out other novels by this author.

[Cathrine ☯️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25★
Wow, I am so stoked. I was under the influence from page one and forty-eight hours later it’s over. I want more. My only interaction with this author was the movie version of her Labor Day which my two besties and I really liked (which probably means that the book must be awesome).
Her very skillful and subtle writing mesmerized me. Each page was like a strand on a spider’s web under construction. There’s this building fascination as you watch it coming together and then you realize you’re caught.
This is an excellent tale that reads like a memoir about how a bad start in life, low self esteem, and then a very unfortunate mistake in judgement can lead to extreme vulnerability and self-doubt, resulting in a lonely woman open to unhealthy and potentially harmful manipulation by others. It was absolutely and compulsively unputdownable. I will definitely be looking into more of Maynard’s other works.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’re looking for the story about a helpless boozer loser, look elsewhere. Me? I like a good story about a down-and-outer, and given the title (which is what drew me in), I was surprised to see that drinking wasn’t the theme. I kept waiting for booze to take over the plot, but it didn’t. (So in a sick way, I was sort of disappointed.) The evils of alcohol do play a role, but it’s not the focus. For Helen, her drug of choice is a rich, charismatic woman who pays unending attention to her. This type of addiction won’t land you a DUI, but it still can ruin your life.

Unlike other reviewers, I wasn’t drawn into the book immediately. Since I wasn’t getting the booze drama, I think I got bored. Helen was all victim-y, and her passivity was annoying. There was, however, a sense that something bad was going to happen, which made me curious.

So I was singing the It's Fine tune for a good while, but when I say it's fine, I usually mean it's bland--passable, decent writing, but no great shakes. I was mildly interested in Helen but not enough. I definitely wasn't under the influence of this one. But about a third of the way through, bingo. Glued to the page.

The story was so real. Through one understandable mistake, Helen’s life was pulled out from under her. Raw, alone, and shell-shocked, she was ripe for the picking. There sat rich Ava, hungry for a slave, loyal fan, personal assistant, and court jester. Her wild and boisterous husband, Swift, was a draw to Helen as well.

I've seen it happen in real life--smart, rich people who carefully pick a new person-toy to entertain them for a while. They zero in, they pay attention as if she's the only thing important to them, and create a dependency where the victim will do anything they ask. Here, they pour it on thick, showering Helen with compliments and attending to her every word and action. Maynard portrayed the idol worship thing and its repercussions just brilliantly.

This social setup stirred me up, the psychology of it all. And I’d say the fact that it called up the psych minor in me made it my favorite thing about this book. I’m thinking that a social setup like this (a person under the influence of a flatterer) can make a person lose her identity for a while. I went crazy over-analyzing this, but it was fun. When Helen introduced her boyfriend, Elliott, to Ava, she suddenly saw him through Ava’s eyes. My theory is that at that moment, full of anxiety and conflict, Helen temporarily lost her identity. When she had been alone with Elliott before that meeting, she was super close to him, and her real self was shining through. But when she later saw him through Ava’s eyes, she treated him like shit and they broke up. I claim this wasn’t her real self. She was sort of hypnotized; her identity disappeared.

One small complaint: Helen doesn’t act on something that she should have. This was the only time that anything in the book was unbelievable, and it of course bugged me. Ava’s maid told Helen not to trust Swift with Helen’s kid. Helen was a little worried, but no biggie. I don’t buy it. Like me, Helen would have flipped out; would have interrogated the maid for details. Implied in the maid’s comment is sexual abuse. No mom hears that her son shouldn’t be trusted with some man and does nothing.

Nothing fancy here, no language to die for, yet a really good book that I did get drawn into. There was no extra fluff, just smooth and skillful writing that kept to the story. The characters were rich, and the kid was especially convincing. At one point, I so believed in him, I felt what he felt. I don’t often feel such a connection, especially with a kid. I realized then that Maynard is a damn good writer; it takes skill to draw you in like that.

I will definitely be checking out her other books. Someone highly recommended her memoir, At Home in the World, so that will probably be the one I head to first. (I just checked the book out and read that when Maynard was 19, she lived with J.D. Salinger, who was in his 50s! Now I HAVE to read it!)

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remember in middle school, when the popular kid would talk to your friend and suddenly you ceased to exist? Well, in adulthood there are those that never quite grew out of that basking-in-attention phase. Sometimes, you just need to feel special I guess. The main character: Helen has found her people. They are wildly successful, resourceful, influential, fun, generous, and out of everyone else, they have chosen her as their rescued pet so to speak. And like a child eager to please, she is oh so easily influenced by her new besties. But as her wishes start to be dismissed and questionable behavior begins to surface, she is already too dependent on her new friends' promises...and might I mention that she has already burned too many bridges with those that really mattered.

Under the Influence is my favorite Joyce Maynard book to date. It offers such a good lesson because Helen's story is not far-fetched. It's about flawed people who place their hopes and dreams in other flawed people who enjoy their place on pedestals like Gods. But you know what they say: If it seems too good to be true...

In case you need a reminder of what qualities are important in a friendship actually worth your time, you can find a few HERE. Live well and enjoy each other ♥

Note: I have to admit that while reading, my stomach was rolling at Ollie and Swift's impending Lake Tahoe trip. I was certain Swift had been grooming Ollie during all their "fun" time together and instead of a boating accident, a different sort of tragedy was going to occur. Although I am sad about Ollie's experience, I am so glad it wasn't a sexual abuse situation like I thought.

My favorite quote:
"Friends. There's a loaded word for you. I know some people when speaking of a particular relationship may say, "We're just friends", as if this were some lesser form or connection to that of lovers or so-called soulmates. But to me, there may be no bond that matters more in the end than friendship, true and enduring friendship."

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been on a bit of a roll with Joyce Maynard she’s a firm audio favourite, I find her storytelling easy to digest and find my concentration doesn’t waver at all while listening, she’s got such a hypnotic voice. The way she portrays her characters they feel so authentic, so realistic in her dialogue and scenarios you can really feel the book played out visually. The story builds slow which is characteristic of Maynard but it never feels dull, you become part of the story as it slowly unfolds and I noticed myself itching to get back in the car for more story development. I can’t even say that anything extraordinary happens in the book but I hardly cared, I loved it and will happily keep reading her books forever...

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Under the influence has almost nothing to do with with the drinking that led the main character to lose custody of her child to her ex-husband. It is more a character study of how a lonely woman, left with nothing to live for, becomes beguiled by a charismatic, rich, older couple.

The story of the young woman Helen and the couple fascinated me. Of the two, Ava, especially, knew how to manipulate people so well it was a high art with her. Swift, the husband, crude and loud, is not someone you could be attracted to for too long, or maybe that's just me.

What frustrated me at the beginning of the novel was the buildup to this relationship. Helen's back story was not believable to me or even that interesting. This part goes on for a long time too.I felt like the author had never known true deprivation and couldn't imagine it that well.

What does come across as believable is the relationship between Helen and her little boy, Ollie. The love they have for each other is palpable, so Helen's seemingly cavalier attitude for his safety at times seems odd and not in character. This is part of who she is though. It's as if she is so much of a non person that she can't even speak up for the little boy she loves with all her heart. It is why she is easily manipulated by Ava and Swift. This also explains my 3 stars for a very thought-provoking book. If someone who was so neglected as a child met a couple of grifters like Ava and Swift wouldn't her prior experience set off deafening alarm bells?

[Stefani · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel terrible for saying this about a New York Times bestselling author, but this book was GOD AWFUL. It had a soap opera-y quality that would be best expressed not in book form, but as the screenplay for a Lifetime movie, if we're being totally honest here.

Where to start? Apparently I'm in the minority here with my opinion, judging by the number of 4 and 5-star reviews that I'm seeing on Goodreads, however, unless this woman is an acquired taste—like a single malt scotch that tastes revoltingly bitter to the, ahem, unrefined pallet—I can't understand what all the rave reviews are about. Suum cuique.

I feel like I'm as much to blame as anyone for being sucked in by the premise of this book which does sound like something I'd see on Hallmark after-hours: a single mother who's lost custody of her son and who's prone to bad decisions randomly meets a fabulously wealthy/philanthropic, glamorous couple who suddenly decide to take her under their wings, so to speak, and give her life meaning. And by meaning, they basically give her a "job" that gives her an excuse to spend her days and nights at their home, being wined, dined, and fawned over by them. So this couple become Helen's best friends/entire world at a time when her life is in shambles. Eventually, she finds a boyfriend on Match.com who conveniently is the polar fucking opposite of her friends—a rule-following accountant who delights in reading spreadsheets on the weekend for fun (I mean, really? Who does this??) who's a wonderful companion but embarrassingly boring to her new fancy friends.

So, I've only given you the very rough outlines of this story, but that should be enough for you to get the gist of its unbelievability. And, yes, I get the part about suspending belief for the purpose of reading fiction, but this was a little too lurid even by those standards. Here are some points I found a little hard to swallow:

(1) Helen is an "alcoholic." Her drinking is what leads her to eventually lose custody of her son. By some miraculous force, she stops drinking the day she loses her son, which, frankly, seems a little unrealistic given the struggles many alcoholics have with breaking a very, very powerful addiction. It almost entirely ignores the fact that being able to just quit drinking overnight is not necessarily within someone's control. While I don't doubt that some people can "quit the habit" cold turkey if given the right motivation, I'm not sure that's a likely scenario and even less so from a person like Helen, who has no willpower and zero self esteem.

(2) The unquestioning willingness to take the Havillands on their merits and not question the power imbalance of the relationship—why would this super-rich couple suddenly decide that this woman—who, by her own description is basically a plain Jane with no personality—is worthy of all their time despite having little to nothing in common with her? No suspicion of an ulterior motive? Is she really that gullible?

(3) The whole tantric sex, *wink wink* come-hither looks between the ever-charming, hairy Swift and his paraplegic wife? It's laughably bad at best and I'm curious as to why these two think anyone is interested in the details of their sex life.

Ugh, at least it was a quick read. I probably should have just read the last 10 pages.

[Suz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Starting a little slow, the pace picked up quickly enough. I thought this may be literary fiction, but I could not put this down, finishing very quickly on route to my annual beach summer holiday. Joyce Maynard writes like a natural – characters I got to know intimately (and quickly) – and how well does she get you to love/hate some of them!

Helen is a single mum hard on her luck after divorcing her husband and receives a DUI. Being pulled over whilst taking her son to emergency for appendicitis should not excuse her for this deed, but I did find myself feeling very sorry, given a very nasty ex-husband and her desperate state of mind.

Enter a gregarious but extremely false pair of people whom Helen false for completely, Ava and Stuart. She falls completely under their spell. We see this train wreck as Helen is drawn in, even to the peril of her own happiness. Captured well is the relationship between Helen and her son after losing custody, and the way in which she is entering head first into an unhealthy reliance on Ava and Stuart. Narcissism is obvious to the reader, but painfully lacking in Helen. I found myself wanting to shake sense into her many a time. Hearty five star read. The author has cemented herself as a go to for this reader.

[Bianca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Under the Influence is the second Maynard (audio)book I read, and as you can see from my rating, I enjoyed it a great deal.

The delivery was superb, I was immersed in the very realistic story from the very beginning.

Helen loses custody of her son, because of driving under the influence. She immediately changes her ways, goes through the motions to prove that she's worthy of having her son back. But things take time.

Desperately lonely, she's taken under the wing by a rich couple, Ava and Swift Havilland - who are very charitable. Helen is so charmed by them, her entire life revolves around them, around what they say and think. Even Helen's son, David, is instantly charmed by Ava and especially by the boisterous Swift, who teaches David to swim and do other fun things.

Early on, we get to know that something had happened. It was life-altering, in more ways than other. The Havillands are great manipulators. Eventually, Helen sees the truth through her rose coloured glasses.
I'll leave it at that so that I don't completely spoil it for you.

I don't quite know what it is about Maynard's writing that works so well for me. Her writing is somewhat understated, still, she manages to create compelling stories, with very realistic characters. Both Labor Day and this book were very atmospheric, it was very easy for me to imagine the characters and the settings.

The first person narration was done impeccably. I like that Helen wasn't perfect, in many ways, she was as average as they come, including average looking.

I know what it is: Maynard is very kind and non-judgemental. I like that.

Maynard was the narrator of this audiobook and I must say she was excellent.

2/2 books @5* = new favourite writer.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting read with a lot to think about. Group read for May, so I will wait and post my review later.

Helen is under the influence. She is under the influence of alcohol in the beginning of the story, and that causes her some serious problems, but she then falls under the influence of two people with money and possessions and a lifestyle that she wants, and that almost costs her everything. Its a complicated story about self-respect (or lack thereof), about parental responsibility, about listening to that inner voice that warns you when things are not what they should be.

The story is well-paced and believable and while you are screaming at Helen "don't go there", you are also looking at yourself and thinking is there any Helen in me. Would you resist the friendship of someone who offered you all the material goods and attention you have craved in life if you recognized the price to be loss of your autonomy? How much would you surrender for that connection? Would you lie to yourself? Bury your own feelings for someone else? Shun a friend or a lover?

Maynard poses some serious questions through her character development. She weaves an interesting tale and she writes a very satisfactory ending for it. I have another of her novels on my Kindle and I will not hesitate to read it.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 ++++ Stars ⭐️ wow!!! That’s all I can say right now . . . This is my first Joyce Maynard book . It won’t be my last. The writing is absolutely spell binding, an exquisitely woven character driven story.

I’ll add more later but right now I just need to savor and digest an array of mixed emotions. I’m sad that I finished this book in 3 days but excited I have several other Joyce Maynard books yet to read . . .

Ironically, Elliot reminds me so much of my husband, also an accountant, for whom I met on match.com , 8 years ago today!!!! All through our courtship he would say, I’m just an ordinary simple , one woman man, not much to figure out. . . 🙂❤️

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Loved the first person point of view. The title was very crafty. It has two different meanings in this book. Author read the book for the audio version and was fabulous. Addictive read. This is not really a suspense book but there's the underlying tone that something is not right with these characters.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Under the Influence is story of love, friendship, loss, and betrayal - and the lengths one will go to to be accepted and approved of.

I am not often drawn into a book from the first few pages, but the story pulled me in right away and kept me engrossed to the end. The novel is wonderfully written and well-paced throughout. I, also, loved the eclectic group of characters.

4.5 *

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this was my first ever complete audiobook! I have never been able to listen to audiobooks. I've started a few in the past but never got more than a few chapters in before I just couldn't handle the narrator trying to do multiple characters in dialogue. It just didn't work.

I got a great recommendation from a GR friend to try a Joyce Maynard book for audio because there is a lot narration and less dialogue. It was indeed a great recommendation for me - truly like having someone tell me a story. The story was interesting and one I could relate to - the power of individuals in our lives to influence our thoughts, behaviors and values, often in a negative and self-serving way. The beginning was interesting as the characters are first introduced and the background is established on the MC's relationships with others in the story. The end of the book was a bit predictable but still fast-paced and tense, drawing a good conclusion to the story. The middle of the book, though, was slow for me and I had to work to stay engaged.

My conclusion from the experience is that, while I made it through this audiobook and I mostly enjoyed it, audiobooks are not my thing. "Under the Influence" itself, as a story, was good. Not a favorite but interesting enough for me to take a look at Joyce Maynard's other books.

[☮Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhere between 4 & 5 stars. Really good.

I loved that Joyce Maynard narrated this herself, and she has a wonderful voice with which to do so. I loved the story: The main character is a divorcee with an 8 year old. Late one night after drinking too much wine, at home, alone, her son becomes ill and she gets a DUI en route to the hospital. That one thing causes her husband to fight for, and win, legal custody. But that isn't what the title is referring to. No, she falls under the influence of a married couple, older and much wealthier than she. They take her under their wing(s), then later her son too, and all is going swimmingly, until a very disturbing incident.

Trust issues... should you trust and cling to people who you barely know, so completely as to forego other relationships?
What does it take to see your way out, even if it means losing your sense of security?

One of those times I wanted the hard copy so I could hug it when finished.

[Judy Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joyce Maynard delivers a timely, poignant, and cautionary tale UNDER THE INFLUENCE ---how ordinary people (victims) --fall under the influence of not only unhealthy addictions, but toxic people, as well. Often outward things which seem to dazzle--socially accepted, can be deadly in many ways.

Choose your friendships and relationships wisely—moral values; good versus evil and the masks which deceive.

Helen a young divorced mother, of seven-year-old son, Ollie-- a photographer and caterer. She likes her wine, and one night at home after drinking, her son has an emergency and on the way to the hospital; finds herself stopped by the cops for a DUI, and ultimately loses custody of her son.

Lost, depressed, and worried her son is slipping away—he is now living with her ex-husband and his new wife. She spends time with a friend she enjoys; however, lonely---soon she meets Ava and Swift Havilland. She is blown away by their rich lifestyle. They take control and soon she is under their spell. She forgets all about her other friend, and uses this couple’s lifestyle and “toys” to dazzle her son.

In the meantime, she meets a man via an online dating site. He is boring, an accountant, and a rule follower—Elliott. They hit it off; however, her friends are risk takers and live on the edge, and there is conflict between them. Their opinion influences her, and she begins thinking maybe he is boring, and not cool enough.

Helen begins spending all her time with the couple, caught up in their lifestyle. Elliott, thinks something is off with the wealthy philanthropists and their connection to the charity. Helen is put off with his comments and comes to their defense.

Ollie, her son is also caught up in Swift’s personality, and soon Helen allows her son to go on a boating outing while she helps Ava prepare for a surprise birthday party. She soon learns, things are not always as they seem. Some people can be damaging. Some toxic people are not always our friends, but use their money, control, and connections for their own selfish reasons.

A serious wake up call to many—both young and old. How often do we allow the popular connected people in our lives, pushing aside our true friends for the glamour? The same with alcohol, or other addictions – society and peer pressure has convinced us you need to do certain things to be hip, cool, impressive, accepted—things to satisfy; may often wind up destroying our lives, our health, and damage precious relationships and those close to our hearts.

A thought-provoking read ---for all ages, ideal for book clubs and further group discussions. Especially women seeking a partner, with small children. The bad boys, the rich, and the risk takers-- may not make the best friend, partner, or parent. Often the outward appearances are a façade, covering up deeper darker psychological problems.

My first book by Maynard --highly impressed—delving into the deep human emotions from all perspectives. (Especially children, who can develop hero worship, and influences). I listened to the audiobook, narrated by the author-- very emotional and moving. Fans of Amy Hatvany, Diane Chamberlain, and Jodi Picoult will enjoy the contemporary domestic suspense, the true value of friendship, and the highly charged topics—ones which influence our lives.

At the same time, we must be careful who we spend time with (especially those who may be vulnerable). We all have a propensity to imitate the habits and adopt the interest and opinions of our close friends and we inadvertently embrace the values they profess. By choosing whom we take on as friends we are charting our own destiny. Look forward to reading more from this author!

JDCMustReadBooks

Highly recommend her latest: The Best of Us Sept 2017.

[Jeanette (Ms. Feisty) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good solid 3.5 stars.

Don't abandon your true blue, loyal, less thrilling friends in favor of those shiny new "friends" with all the money and toys and parties. When the time comes that you need to go crawling back to those old friends, they might not be so eager to welcome you back into their lives. And why should they?

[Lynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful story about love, family, and friendship. I was so immersed in the story that when it ended I screamed. I'm still living in it even though I've started another.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went into this a bit blind. I knew it was the story of a woman who'd had some trouble with alcohol and becomes friends with a wealthy couple. I figured the story had more to do with being "under the influence" of alcohol but it is more of being "under the influence" of her wealthy friends. I'm sorry but I felt Helen was way too weak minded. Too easily influenced. That being said, the book did keep me turning the pages (after a bit of a slow start) because I knew the friendship would not end well and I wanted to find out what was going to happen.

[Bill Kupersmith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having the author Joyce Maynard herself as the reader for this audible book increased the intimacy yet the voice always seemed authentically the character Helen herself. I’d love to read Under the Influence (the title is relevant in several senses) with a book club. It should engender lively discussion & vigorous disagreement concerning which characters are attractive & unattractive & why. I love stories about friendship between characters with very different backgrounds & social status. These tend to be ill-fated, tho’ when they’re not - as in some of JoJo Moyes’s novels - they can end wonderfully. Here we a have a struggling single mom - well, not even that, since she lost custody of her son Ollie to her nasty ex as a result of a DWI (pure bad luck) - making a precarious living taking pictures of school children. Totally unexpectedly she is adopted by a wealthy & glamorous Bay Area couple, the Havillands, who shower her with presents & hospitality while she serves as a kind of PA & court photographer for Ava, the wife confined to a wheelchair as a result of a spinal injury. Her husband, appropriately named Swift, is a lively boisterous extravert who loves big toys for big boys, including a cigarette boat he keeps on Lake Tahoe.

Readers who know their classics will trace Swift Havilland’s literary bloodline @ once, from Fitzgerald’s Jay Gatsby back to Petronius’ Trimalchio, with a dash of Falstaff mixed in. (Swift also reminds me a lot of a current American political figure much in the news.) If you are an old movie buff, like one of the characters in this story, toss in an older version of one of those “madcap” (whatever kind of hat that is) couples from a ‘30s flick. Underneath however, there seems to be something sleazy about them, & Elliott the old movie buff, who becomes Helen’s lover by way of Match.com, sets out to find out what’s behind the facade of their charitable foundation for neutering unwanted dogs.

Personally, tho’, I was a little disappointed both by the plot & the characters. For me this kind of plot requires that the needy friend ought to be the one betrayed to generate real pathos & I expected that it would be Helen who would get the el dumpo. The more I reflect on the story afterward, the more I wonder what the Havilland’s real motive could have been for adopting Helen & her son Ollie almost as family members. Too often it seemed that the plot was controlling the characters’ choices rather than their choices the plot. Also, I found Elliott a bit of a stick (of course I’m prejudiced that he’s a poor sailor). A real man on discovering Helen’s custody situation would have offered to take over her legal fees there & then. I expect Joyce Maynard realized that but it wouldn’t work with the plot, which required Helen remain dependent on the Havilland’s promise of legal assistance from Swift’s fix-it lawyer. There was also a problem with the critical recognition scene where they, & we, find out what the Havillands are really like. We have to get it slowly at 2nd hand through the words of an 8 y/o backed by unlikely photo evidence. Finally we fast-forward ten years to wrap everything up & find out the fate of the Havillands from the newspapers.

So artistically speaking I’ll not rate Under the Influence @ the top level for plot or characterization. Morally and spiritually the choices seemed too obvious & in the case of Elliott almost judgmental. But tho’ the ending was dragged out, I found the story a compelling & engaging read which would be great fun to discuss.

[Theresa Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about toxic relationships—with friends and with husbands who become ex-husbands.

I spent the first 100 pages outraged by the injustice of Helen losing custody of her son. She had a propensity toward alcoholism, but she drank at night, after her son was asleep. She never drank when she needed to care for him, except for one night, when he got deathly ill with appendicitis. Bad luck, a judge with a personal vendetta against drunk driving, a vindictive ex with a new pregnant wife, and a lack of money are the reasons Helen loses her son completely, even after she goes to AA and stays sober for years.

What also propels the story is a quiet sort of subdued conflict with Helen’s friendship with the wildly wealthy Ava and Swift Havilland. It’s also about lies people tell and the lies we tell ourselves.

I ended up enjoying the book, but I have to say, it’s not a cheerful read. It’s good, and the ending is satisfying, but getting there, I keenly felt the injustice that disproportionately impacts people without financial resources.

For more of my reviews, please visit: http://theresaalan.net/blog/

[aPriL does feral sometimes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant, excellent, thought-provoking! 'Under the Influence' deserves an award. This is a tightly focused literary exploration of mainly six characters, and others, too, fed to the reader with a huge delightful dollop of an entertaining story on top.

Helen, the contrite narrator, made a lot of mistakes in the previous decade. Now, ten years later, she wants to talk about it, and I, gentle reader, am so happy she is in a confessional mood. I intend to buy a copy of this novel (I read a library loan).

Helen McCabe is an alcoholic. She hid her drinking, keeping it confined to the hours her son was asleep in his bed, but one night after drinking down an entire bottle of wine, four-year-old Ollie had an attack of appendicitis. Attempting to drive to the hospital earned her a DUI sentence and the loss of her most of her parental rights, which are now limited to a 6-hour visit every other Saturday.

Very likely Helen's drinking problem is an inherited one. Her mother Kay, who lives in Florida with yet another hookup, and living like trailer trash in a condo, is a cold uncaring drunk.

Forty-years-old as the book opens, Helen goes to AA meetings. She never drinks now. She lives in a low-rent apartment, earning money with a variety of odd jobs, but she primarily works as a photographer. She is eager for the visits with the now 8-year-old Ollie, unforgiving and cold though he is towards her.

Ollie is under the care of Helen's ex-husband Dwight, who is remarried to Cheri. They have a new baby, and Ollie is now an angry gloomy child, distrustful of Helen's attempts to repair their relationship. Dwight is an exacting man with a harsh temper, and Cheri favors her baby over Ollie. Ollie blames Helen for the divorce.

Then, five years after losing custody of Ollie, Helen now meets wealthy Ava Havilland while Helen is working for a catered society event, serving canapés at an art gallery showing pictures by emotionally disturbed adults, a fundraiser for a mental health foundation. Ava is in a wheelchair, in her 50's, richly dressed, and she glows with vitality. But as charismatic as Ava is, her robust cheery husband Swift easily uses up all the air in every room he enters. He is in his 60's, but he behaves as vigorous as a young man of twenty. As it turns out, Ava and Swift have a son who is in his twenties, Cooper, away at college, which Helen learns once Ava inexplicably decides to befriend Helen.

Ava picks up sad waifs, and rescue dogs, who interest her, and Swift goes along with Ava's new friendships. The couple lavish gifts of clothes, party invitations and daily dinners on those they like - and Helen is admitted to the inner circle of Ava's friendship, enjoying the delights of the Havilland mansion, full of expensive and kitsch art, the services of a servant, Estella, who has a fifteen-year-old daughter, Carmen, a pool, and the occasional use of a driver and their car. Ava also gives Helen a wage to work for her photographing Ava's art and to prepare an album of Swift's life for a surprise celebration.

Ava treats Helen like a daughter, and Helen laps it up like a kitten with a bowl of cream, despite Swift's juvenile sexual crudity and boyish pranks. Feeling a little nervous about losing this friendship, Helen reverts to her old childhood passion of telling creative stories about her life away from the Havillands, making up adventures, mostly about her dates set up through match.com. She is startled when Ava and Swift adore her stories about her supposed sexual misadventures, and grateful.

Helen's real life away from the Havillands feels dull, cramped and pedestrian. Helen's best friend of six years, Alice, is soon abandoned because Helen feels uncomfortable, suddenly, in acknowledging her. The idea of introducing her into the life at the Havillands seems to Helen it could be a possible threat to the continuance of Ava's affection. In the end, Helen believes that since Alice is a large unattractive and crude woman whose loyalty is not enough of recommendation for continuing their friendship after suspecting Ava might rethink her relationship with Helen if she met Alice.

Unexpectedly, Helen meets a nice man, Elliot, from match.com. She really enjoys his company, but instinctually, she feels the Havillands would not like him. After some dithering, she finally arranges for them to meet. Earlier, she had finally introduced her son Ollie to Ava and Swift, which had been perfect. Swift and Ollie were like playful children together, and Ollie rewarded Helen by loving her like he used to. However, the Havillands and Elliot were like oil and water.

It becomes clear Helen must choose either Elliot or Ava. How can she give up the excitement of Ava's affection and gifts, or the renewed love of her son Ollie towards her, or ignore that Ollie has much love as well for Swift? But at the same time, Helen is becoming aware of an unsettling feeling that she is shaping her life too much to be acceptable to the Havillands...



The novel is full of slight and obvious referrals to fairy tales and stories about fantasizing dream worlds to live in when reality is intolerable or threatening or dull, but never as obvious as I am pointing them out. Gentle reader, I am picking the book apart in this spoiler, but the book actually runs on as smooth as dark ice.

It is obvious to me Helen has a consistent ongoing character flaw to which she is blind. It has led to her alcoholism and to her accepting 'the kindness of strangers', who demand a payment of entertaining stories from her in return, like Schedherazade in the fairy tale collection of the book, One Thousand and One Nights.

I think Helen felt as if she was living in a faded photograph, her life too plain without the magic sparkle of alcohol giving everything a warm fuzzy glow before she meets Ava. So, unable to fix hard cold adult reality and responsibilities to her liking, like the author James Thurber's character Walter Mitty The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Helen prefers to live vicariously in another's fantasy dream world after meeting Ava. The Havillands accommodate Helen in fitting in her own fantasy because of their having created an immature adult's Edenic world of child-like pleasures through their marriage and money. (Yes, I'm thinking of Michael Jackson, that childish adult celebrity so much in the news after his accidental death.)

Helen, Ava and Swift are all immature adult children, determined to hold onto fantasies which give them pleasure at all costs. For Ava, it is the childish desire of living the life of the beneficent Grand Dame, like a queen on her throne, bestowing her favor on the needy. Swift's desire is for the life of an eternal Peter Pan. Helen's dream is to live another day under Ava's beneficent motherly affection. All of them do not think beyond the eternal minute of their particular inner child's fantasy experience.

But Ava's broken back and immobile legs intrude on their consciousness, again and again, despite the coverups of beautiful fabrics over her shrunken useless legs. Swift cannot grasp the destructive consequences of what, to him, are playful excitements giving him some thrills. Helen loses the chance at true friendships and real love, taking a pass on adulthood in order to have the shiny fairy tale life she shares with the Havillands. Ollie learns what the reality of being around adults who refuse to be adults when it counts is like, and, as usual in these cases, he quickly realizes as anybody sane does, one must never lose sight of reality in the playing out of dreams and fairy tales.

Although Helen isn't as trapped as the fictional character Blanche DuBois in Tennessee Williams play A Streetcar Named Desire, since Blanche was suffering from mental illness and a 'spinster' label during horrible pre-feminism years, both Helen and Blanche (blanch - hehe) wanted a romantic dream life far more than ever admitting a need to come to grips with their actual limitations in real life, colorless in comparison with fairy tales as real existence may be. For both Blanche and Helen, desperately seeking the dream romance of a soul mate or protector in something like A Midsummer Night's Dream a Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream landscape turns to a nightmare.

Although, I must admit I'm feeling rather Puckish myself right now. Ah, I guess I have not entirely put childish things behind me either...

Helen could have fixed her life to some degree if she 'pulled her socks up' or 'got ahold of herself', as some might say, like perhaps I say, gentle reader. Helen had five years to process her mistakes! But she wants too much her easy pleasures, and perhaps she resents not being able to drink and be drunk all that she desires. She comes alive finally after treading water for half a decade, feeling sorry for herself for far too long. She is the same as Swift; the only differences is she does not have his sense of privilege, and she is bit more mature, as well as possessing a different fantasy of a mother's non-judging love.

Helen could have forced herself to learn a new skill via community college continuing education classes, or library clubs, or volunteering. She could have suggested to Alice other trips and restaurants. She could have begun a new close relationship with Elliot.

If a pleasant escape opportunity comes up in the book, unfortunately she goes with the flow hoping for some interesting thing to please her, as long as it was similar to a child's lack of having responsibility or if it was like a fairy tale. She is unable to be 'self-directed' or 'goal-oriented' as my elementary teachers might have written on her report card. She floats carefree in the changing winds, hoping to see something stimulating to the satisfaction of her needs. Ollie's interests, unfortunately, comes second to her own. Her blind spot of childishness comes with a blinkered self-centered core.

I think Helen sees her past mistakes in making choices, one of which was depending on others too much in seeking to comfort herself, and another fault in dropping her real friends when she tired of them like old toys, but she was still unable to fathom why she chose wrong all of the time. I don't think she sees yet how childish she is, which almost cost her everything. (I saw she had regrets, and she was determined to not hurt Ollie again through her bad choices, now seeing them for the bad choices they were, but no other insights. She seemed still mystified by why she kept choosing wrong. Of course, maybe I got it all wrong.) She needs to take that extra step and see herself, as I did, as a feminine version of Swift's personality in female gear, waiting for something fairy-tale colorful to happen instead of living the colorful fairy tale, like Swift did.

Ava and Helen fit like cogs in a color wheel in their complementary fairy tales, the same as Swift and Ava did in their fantasy. Tellingly, Ava and Swift did not care for each other that much.

Photography is a way to be sensually pleased by what you see, pleasing yourself, but Helen got bored and dissatisfied when she had to direct her camera at ordinary families and ordinary life celebrations, which were too boring for her taste. However, taking pictures of the exotic doings at Ava and Swift's parties and art was fun for her, although she refused to do any ugly reality action shots of party fornication couplings and drunkenness. Such adult fun would not suit the children's view of romantic fairy tale love, or common decency, which Helen thankfully possesses. At the same time, photographers aren't doing or participating with the action - they are voyeurs of it, standing outside watching, not participating.

Helen is SUCH a passive twat!

*ahem*

Helen is not a nice person at all. She matches Ava and Swift in shallow selfishness, in my opinion. It is why she put Ollie second all of her life.

Swift had a Teflon life. I despise him. Unfortunately, so many people admire him, thus excuse and forgive him always. His being rich helped, too, but I already know that often isn't the entire story.

I actually knew a couple of Swift-like people; in real life, their charisma was overwhelming, and they ARE forgiven almost completely by their victims, family and judges, as if everyone is stuck in a helpless reacting to the little madcap boy inside the handsome grownup facade instinctually.

Do NOT open the following spoiler, unless you totally don't care about a reveal of a major plot point!


Ollies, and Coopers, too, don't always survive their immature parents, or their immature friends.

An incident occurs, ladies and gentlemen!

Ollie was lucky in many ways: Cooper's drunken Jet Ski crash into Swift's boat didn't kill Ollie, who was on board Swift's boat with Swift; Ollie took pictures and made a video of Cooper's drunken Jet Ski water driving and crash into his father's large boat; Ollie's video captured the engaged-to-another-more-proper-girl-but-now-reeling-drunk Cooper, while Cooper's secret underage girlfriend Carmen is lying in the bottom of Swift's boat bleeding with an obvious head injury; Carmen's last coherent words pleading with Cooper to stop driving so recklessly were picked up by the video as she rode behind Cooper on the Jet Ski; Swift's action in protecting Cooper by forcing all four to wait out on the water for six hours in Swift's boat until Cooper sobered up causes doubt about Swift's lies because of the six-hour wait which did not corroborate Swift's false testimony; and Ollie's video.

Little Ollie having the presence of mind and opportunity to make a video and pictures while Carmen's brain was dying on the bottom of the boat was the one single wrong note in the book, in my opinion. However, the Havillands' lawyer threats to Helen, the Havillands' attempt to blame Ollie for the crash, and the big coverup of Cooper's drunken driving and Swift's obstruction of justice was all too true to actual experiences in news stories.

Of course, Ollie should never have been allowed to leave the mansion alone with Swift, whom Helen already had grave doubts about from many observations of his wild frat-boy antics and unrestrained potty-mouth. She simply squashed her fears down, ignoring her own knowledge Ollie would not be entirely safe with Swift, who lacked almost all judgement where risk-taking fun was concerned. But she feared upsetting Ava more. Even worries about what Dwight would do if he discovered her lack of care in regards to Ollie mattered less than her friendship with Ava.

There is more to the story, believe it or not, but I'm done here.

I highly recommend 'Under The Influence' to literary readers. I thought the book true to life and extremely insightful. I was caught up in the story from beginning to end. I will be looking for Joyce Maynard's other novels.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helen was raised by an unfit single mother, and had vowed to one day be a good mother. Desperate for love and family, Helen marries Dwight, a fast talking salesman. She is enamoured by his tight knit family, but Dwight is not the man Helen was hoping for, and he leaves her for another woman. She has her son, Ollie, whom she loves fiercely. Unfortunately Helen has a weakness for wine, finding herself polishing off a bottle after Ollie is in bed. When Ollie becomes ill one night, Helen is charged with a DUI driving him to the hospital and losses everything. Ollie goes to live with Dwight and his new wife. Her aspiring career as a photographer has been reduced to taking school pictures. To supplement her income she helps serve at catered events. It is here she meets Swift and Ava Havilland. Helen is drawn to their power, riches and influence. She feels privileged when they offer their friendship. Soon she is fully entranced by Ava and Swift, making them the focus of her life and basing her decisions on their approval. She even allows their evaluation of her love life to influence her feelings for Elliott, a man she grew to love. With the distance growing between Helen and Ollie, she introduces Ollie to the Havillands and Ollie is quickly dazzled by Swift's larger than life charisma. Ollie now wants to spend more time with Helen in order to spend more time with Swift. Too soon a tragic accident breaks the spell, and Helen must choose to do what is right or protect the friendship she so cherishes.