The Sunshine When She's Gone

by Thea Goodman
April 24-May 1, 2013

My speedy reading streak continues. I polished off this one in a week. Can't remember the last time I did that, but to be fair, Sunshine was only 225 pages. I also had that Bill Withers song stuck in my head for the past week. Only this book is the exact opposite ... there was Sunshine When She's Gone. Withers sings about how sad and lonely he is without his love, but in this case, Veronica finds herself more than happy when her husband and daughter leave her for the weekend.

Suffering from severe post-partum depression and loss over the emergency hysterectomy that followed the birth, Veronica is surprised to wake up refreshed after an unexpected good night's sleep. Her husband John wakes up early and decides to take six-month old Clara out in the cold January morning to a diner for breakfast. When he finds the diner closed, he hops in a cab for the airport and onto a flight to Barbados. He just wants to get warm. What follows is two days of phone tag, lies and Veronica's unexpected pleasure at having some alone time. For the reader, it's nothing but tension and worry that the baby will get home safely before getting any sicker than she already is.

I kept waiting for the plot to come to a point, but the storyline was so contrived, and the author appeared to give up at the end. I mean, really, who randomly decides to go to the Caribbean, and in what world would he have even gotten through customs with no luggage and a ticket purchased the same day?? I know that I read novels to escape reality, but they need to be somewhat believable too. The book was short, and in the end I'm grateful for that, but another 50 pages could have helped explain these unsympathetic characters a little more. Although maybe that was Goodman's intentions; to leave the reader feeling as shallow as this couple.

I really want to give this book two stars, but I have to give credit to the author for her beautiful prose. A reluctant three stars it is.

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The Light Between Oceans

by M.L. Stedman

April 13-23, 2013

Have I mentioned how happy I am that my book slump seems to be behind me? Well, hooray! I've been on a nice run of good words as of late, which is also encouraging me to read longer into the night, and losing some sleep. It's worth it though if the books remain as good as this one: The Light Between Oceans.

Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia after WWI an emotionally damaged man. He shoulders guilt for not being physically injured; having seen his fellow soldiers wounded beyond repair. He finds solace in a job on Janus Rock as the keeper of its lighthouse. On a rare shore leave, he meets and marries Isabel. She in content on the island and with the life they have built together. But after two miscarriages and a stillbirth, she is on the verge a breakdown; until the day when a boat washes ashore carrying a dead man and a two-month old baby girl, who is very much alive. Isabel does everything in her power to convince Tom that they should keep the baby. As a man who is comforted by rules and procedures, he is adamantly against this idea. But when faced with a distraught wife who truly deserves children, he reluctantly gives in. They live with their new daughter, Lucy, for nearly four years until the guilt is more than Tom can bear.

“You only have to forgive once. To resent, you have to do it all day, every day. You have to keep remembering all the bad things.”

I tore through this novel with great interest and fascination. At times I found it so heartbreaking to read, but I didn't stop. Although the idea of keeping the child may seem completely unbelievable, Stedman makes you believe. This being her debut novel, I look forward to much more from her.

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