Book #13

Labor Day by Joyce Maynard

244 pages

I struggled with this book.

I struggled with liking the characters and understanding their actions. At first, 13-year-old Henry's mom, who rarely leaves the house and talks to him like an adult, reminds me of the mom in About a Boy. Except in About a Boy, the mom, an atypical personality, seems to want her young son to have some sense of normalcy as he begins his teen years. Henry's mom makes no effort to even attempt to let him pretend like he's normal outside of her shut-in house.

Once Frank, an escaped convict, comes into the picture, I am rolling my eyes at the utter disregard the mother has for her son and his safety. Frank moves in to their house, and quickly falls in love with Adele, Henry's mom. They spend the Labor Day weekend in bliss, contemplating escaping the country to live freely.

Henry finally meets a friend in Eleanor, and she is truly the most interesting character in the book -- but don't worry, she seems to disappear as quickly as she comes in. Eleanor is Henry's "real-life" love interest, but has problems of her own -- an eating disorder and a mother she feels like has abandoned her.

This end-of-summer romance between Frank and Adele is ill-fated from the beginning, and watching Henry in the middle is at times down-right uncomfortable. All I wanted to do was pluck Henry and lead him to his dad, a remarried family man who still sees Henry regularly.

I love Kate Winslet, but I am unsure if I'll even be watching the movie version of this book any time soon.

Next up: Eight Days in Darkness: The True Story of the Abduction, Rape, and Rescue of Anita Wooldridge by Angela Roegner

(Sounds happy, doesn't it???)