A review by wendy_cathcart
A Simple Thing by Kathleen McCleary

4.0

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.]