Hard Lessons

by Ruth P. Watson

Hard Lessons is set in Rochester, New York. It is the story of Lainey Robinson, whose young adult life begins to spin out of control when she finds comfort in the arms of her chemistry teacher, a man twice her age. She learns, the hard way that relationships do not always turn out as depicted in romance novels. And the final exam at the end of this course in real life is tougher than any Lainey imagined.

226 pages, Paperback

First published August 28, 2009

Reviews

[Kim G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am so surprised that this novel has low reviews or none at all on any of her other books that were all good to me so far. If I am right, the novel came out in the early 2000s. It such a shame I came to realized that Ruth P. Watson is a fantastic storyteller. So this story was wonderfully written. A young girl in high school is getting involved with a man twice her age. Lainey was spoiled and stubborn, and her flirting got her in a lot of trouble that ended with her having to get therapy suffering from depression. The character's cast was vain, childish, jealous, materialistic, and worried about public opinion drum roll please and little racism. So I concluded that the characters lacked attention from their spouse or parents, or significant other. Well done, Ruth P. Watson.