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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
A friend recommended this as one of her "10 Books That Stayed With Me" list and though it's only been a day since I finished it, I understand completely why it earned the berth. I've been a fan of McCleary's since her first book, House and Home, and I have to say she just gets better with time. The story of two women who have each faced tragedies in their lives and who converge on idyllic, remote Sounder Island in the San Juans is rich with good storytelling, vivid characters, and universal themes of love and mothering and forgiveness. Thoroughly enjoyed this.
Review first posted on my blog: http://memoriesfrombooks.blogspot.com/2012/07/simple-thing.html
A Simple Thing turns out to be anything but simple. Susannah Delaney decides to move to Sounder Island with her son and daughter for a year. Her husband stays behind.
Sounder Island is supposed to be a return to a simpler time - no electricity, no rush of day to day life, a life closer to nature. What she hopes is to bring her family away from the struggles and challenges of life at home - social pressures, bullying, and the rat race so to speak.
What she finds is that no matter where you go, your struggles and your thoughts come with you. A lesson that Betty who has lived on the island for fifty years has learned. The book becomes their story - a story of facing the past, overcoming fears, learning forgiveness, and finding happiness within.
I would consider this book a good beach read. A story about love, the past, and family. Not a memorable book, but not a bad way to spend the afternoon.
*** Reviewed for LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program ***
A Simple Thing turns out to be anything but simple. Susannah Delaney decides to move to Sounder Island with her son and daughter for a year. Her husband stays behind.
Sounder Island is supposed to be a return to a simpler time - no electricity, no rush of day to day life, a life closer to nature. What she hopes is to bring her family away from the struggles and challenges of life at home - social pressures, bullying, and the rat race so to speak.
What she finds is that no matter where you go, your struggles and your thoughts come with you. A lesson that Betty who has lived on the island for fifty years has learned. The book becomes their story - a story of facing the past, overcoming fears, learning forgiveness, and finding happiness within.
I would consider this book a good beach read. A story about love, the past, and family. Not a memorable book, but not a bad way to spend the afternoon.
*** Reviewed for LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program ***
Here's my review post: http://myconvertiblelife.blogspot.com/2012/08/book-review-simple-thing.html
This was a very nice, short book. I really enjoyed the stories of the two women.
This book just couldn't seem to capture my attention. By page 150, I still wasn't connected to the characters and I gave up.
A Simple Thing is at its heart the story of two women, Susannah Delaney and Betty Pavalak, and an island. Their arrivals on Sounder Island are separated by many years but their reasons are basically the same... they want to save their children and themselves. Susannah's teenage daughter is spiraling out of control and her son is suffering greatly at the hands of bullies at school. She feels that unless something drastic is done, there will be horrible consequences. So she decides to take her children to Sounder Island for a year and leave her husband at home in Virginia. Sounder is a remote island off the coast of the Pacific Northwest that is only accessible by private boat from another island. There is no electricity, no internet, a one-room schoolhouse and no malls or movie theaters - pretty much the complete opposite of their previously overscheduled overstimulated suburban lives. Susannah has a history with the island and a long-buried secret that has haunted and shaped her. Betty came to Sounder in the 50's in an effort to save her failing marriage and ended up making a home there for her son and herself. This is a great beach read and a very interesting story. Some of it may seem to be more than a little far-fetched to the everyday person but it's fiction not a how-to manual, so that was alright with me.
[I received this book as an advance reader's edition.]
[I received this book as an advance reader's edition.]
Susannah and Betty both gave up lives in the city for life on a small island off the coast of Washington. Susannah in response to her teenage daughter acting out, and her pre-teen son getting bullied. Betty moved 50 years earlier to placate a cheating husband.
The book was good, but not great. The narration jumps between Susannah and Betty, in different time periods, but the date and narrator is introduced on the title of each chapter.
Susannah really bothered me. She's obsessively worried about the safety of her children, due to her own childhood. The anxiety is used to move the plot along. Until a final conflict towards the end of the novel clears up everything.
Betty is more interesting, and her story is revealed over the chapters. I wish there was more Betty, but this is Susannah's story. In fact, if there was more anyone except Susannah, the story would be better.
The book was good, but not great. The narration jumps between Susannah and Betty, in different time periods, but the date and narrator is introduced on the title of each chapter.
Susannah really bothered me. She's obsessively worried about the safety of her children, due to her own childhood. The anxiety is used to move the plot along. Until a final conflict towards the end of the novel clears up everything.
Betty is more interesting, and her story is revealed over the chapters. I wish there was more Betty, but this is Susannah's story. In fact, if there was more anyone except Susannah, the story would be better.
A Kindle freebie/cheapie that I downloaded. Good story, fairly quick read.
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Two women, two lives, two generations, one island. A simple thing is a poignant story of two different ladies whose lives crosses with each other on an island that provided a haven for both of them.
Told with two POVs, this book is a page turner.
Told with two POVs, this book is a page turner.