12 July 2010

Review of Shades of Morning by Marlo Schalesky to post July 12th.



Product Details
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Multnomah Books; 1 edition (June 15, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1601420250
ISBN-13: 978-1601420251


From Publishers Weekly from Amazon.com 
"Book and coffee shop owner Marnie Wittier lives on the opposite end of the country from where she grew up; she needs that much distance from her past. But her past won't stay away; her estranged sister, Rose, dies and Marnie is named guardian of Rose's 15-year-old son, Emmit, who has Down syndrome. Another complication: Rose's attorney is Taylor Cole, whom Marnie once loved. The complicated family history unreels in the narrative, alternating with Marnie's learning to cope with the sweet and very challenging Emmit. Schalesky leavens a story that could be sad with friendly, quirky touches: Marnie's customers, her iguana Max. Some devices seem contrived: Marnie's box of memorabilia that signifies major life events, the cute meeting between Marnie and Taylor. But Christy-award winning Schalesky (Beyond the Night) has a good feel for psychological complexity. And a reader won't see the nice twist at the end coming until it hits like the California earthquake that opens the book."

My Thoughts:
This is a story of love, loss and family secrets. Marnie had moved to California 16 years ago and  opened a book/coffee shop. She thought that secrets of her past were just that, secrets, until she gets a letter from a lawyer she knew from her past, telling her that her sister,Rose, had died in a freak accident and that she was now guardian of a 15 year old nephew, that she did not know she had. Marnie has no desire to be a guardian or parent of anyone, let alone a nephew that turns out has Down's Syndrome. Marnie has a box called her 'regrets' box that she has used for momentos and slips of paper of memories and regrets that she would like to forget. Emmitt keeps opening this box and with his insistence Marnie is able to face the regrets and sorrows that this box contains.Emmitt proves to be a handful and Marnie is stressed to the breaking point trying to do the right thing by Emmitt and still run her business. Marnies life is turned upside down what with having no clue how to take care of a Down's child and deal with the secrets of her past which include Taylor Cole, her sister's lawyer. Taylor had once been a man that Marnie had loved and it is because of this love that  Marnie flee's across the country. As time goes by Emmitt and Taylor work their way to her heart and she learns to find the love that she thought she would never know again. Her faith in God has been tested over the years and Marnie is not sure what she should believe in. The ending, which of course I will not write about as that would spoil the story for the reader, I was totally unprepared for. Needless to say the whole story comes together in the end. I feel that Emmitt restores her faith and she is able to do what is necessary to find and keep the love she thought was lost to her. I really enjoyed this story and like I said was very surprised at the ending..

I received this book for review from Multnomah and I was not monetarily compensated for my review.
To read more about the book and author click on link below: http://www.marloschalesky.com/
To Enter Giveaway: US only. Giveaway ends July 31st, 2010
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