How to Walk Away: A Novel by Katherine Center

How to Walk Away: A Novel. Katherine Center. Creativia – St. Martin’s Press. Copyright May 2018, hb.. 320 pp.; ISBN #: 9781250149060. 

Margaret Jacobson is living a charmed life.  She works hard in school, is highly athletic and is soon to be engaged to the perfect guy, Chip.  Chip is confident and passionate about flying and one night before he takes his final exam to be licensed, he insists on Margaret flying with him.  That turns out to be the turning point in Margaret’s perfect life.  After an accidental flight, Margaret is severely injured and debilitated with an inability to move her legs, walk or anything else she had dreamed of doing in her now non-existent future!

One can see where this narrative is going but it doesn’t erase the reader’s total engagement with how Margaret’s world changes and the dynamic people around her who enable her survival.  First there is the enigmatic physical therapist, Ian, who is a tough piece of metal perfect for Margaret.  Then there is her estranged sister, Kit, who returns and turns out to be just the right amount of jokes, food, commiseration, and inspiration for Margaret to get back into life and new dreams and visions for the future. It also turns out that Kit had disappeared out of love and not hate and lies.

Chip, the perfect guy, doesn’t cope well with what has happened to his fiancé.  In fact, he is so riddled with guilt and shame that he falls apart.  How will that complicate issues? 

Trauma is a life-changer! How easy to write these words because most of us can’t possibly and fully imagine such changes in our life story?  Katherine Center has got it right – so right that the plot and how these people’s lives intertwine in this initial nightmare is credible and endearing. 

How to Walk Away is a more than apt title for readers to grasp by the end of this remarkable, realistic and engaging story of truly heroic growth and change!  So nicely done, Katherine Center!

House of Wonder by Sarah Healy

House of Wonder.  Sarah Healy. Penguin Group (USA). September 2014. 352 pp.  ISBN#: 9780451239877.

Jenna and Warren grew up as twins in a small New Jersey town throughout the 1950s and thereafter.  Their mother was a famous beauty queen who was primed for fame but neglected and abused in every other way.  Jenna was born without trouble but Warren had to be delivered half an hour later by C-section.  Warren has an obvious mental disability but is sweet, loving, smart and extremely sensitive to those whom he trusts.  He and Jenna have an obviously close relationship; all they have to do is pull on an earlobe when in distress and the other will come to help immediately!

Jenna is grown now and has a daughter of her own, Rose.  She is drawn back to her hometown when her mother starts exhibiting strange behavior arising from shopaholic tendencies.  One senses something else is wrong with Priscilla but as with Warren the disorder is never named and that’s a good thing as the reader is drawn to learn more about them rather than stereotypically labeling them and fitting future behaviors to that label.  We also are able to discern the positive aspects of their personality that we might miss otherwise!

This is the story of Jenna returning to help her mother and Warren, who is beat up severely and accused of the random, frequent robberies in the neighborhood.  Add to that that Rose’s absent Dad has now returned and wants to be a father, although his new wife makes everything more than difficult.  The bright life in Jenna’s world is an old high school friend Bobby who is preparing to be a doctor and his daughter Gabby.  Both of their children have a prescient feeling about their relationship which makes it all the more endearing as their relationship grows into something lovely!

Many secrets are gradually revealed throughout this novel that hurt but hurt less than the lack of ability to explain the way things have evolved with Priscilla and her family and her husband.  There’s something wonderfully unique about this story that manages even in the worst of scenes to maintain a respect and love for each other that supersedes all else.  Love isn’t easy but it is healing when one sticks around long enough to observe, reflect and act rather than react.  Love is precious in this highly recommended novel about family, dysfunction, mystery and growth!

Good Night Brian by Steven Manchester

Good Night Brian. Steven Manchester. The Story Plant. January 2013. 308 pp. e-book. ISBN #: 9781611880625.

“Momma” is really Brian Mauretti’s grandmother and Joan is his mother.  They have faced the normal ups and downs of life but now are facing a devastating disease in Brian.  As a baby, Brian had difficulty handling formula and was put on a special formula that turned out to have devastating effects on certain babies.  The product had not been properly tested and not examined by the FDA, with the result that the lack of certain ingredients left children with the inability to speak, walk, and do all the normal things babies grow into with time and love.  

But Momma, an elderly tough grandmother with huge faith, insists that doctors know nothing and one must have faith that Brian will be and do things that the doctors insist are impossible.

The rest of the novel is exciting, tender, gritty, and determined plans set by Momma to make those “hallmarks” of childhood happen, albeit at a different time from other children’s developmental stages.  The reader celebrates every uncertain but strengthening step after step after step.  One wonders where Momma finds the strength to stay on course.  Brian’s siblings, especially Ryan, and cousins are part of the program and are always learning lessons from Mamma about believing and doing the right thing.  It must be said that these lessons are told realistically and without sounding soppy or dogmatic.

Brian’s parents have a harder time believing, and this tale also concerns their painful conflicts and celebrations of each act by Brian that defies the predictions of the medical world.  Their part in the story is so very real and understandable to the reader.  Not everyone has superhuman faith and that’s okay as well in this author’s depiction of this average but unique family.

Although some readers don’t like overly emotional stories, this is an emotional story that conveys mostly grace, dignity, strength and truly unconditional love!  Wonderful fiction written by a great storyteller!