How the Light Gets In by Joyce Maynard. New York: Harper Collins, 2024. 432 pages. ***** Publication Date June 25, 2024.
Maynard's follow-up novel to Count The Ways. Amazon provides an excellent synopsis of the story. This book spans 15 years of fifty-four-year-old Eleanor, her family, and their life experiences. Written against the backdrop of daily life and cultural events, the reader is drawn into a story that spans three generations.
This story spoke to me on many different levels. Maynard skillfully draws us into Eleanor's family and shows each member with flaws and all. Life may not be perfect or how you expected it to be, but it is beautiful. Eleanor's life has been difficult and certainly not the experience that she expected, Divorced, estranged from her daughter, and taking care of her son who has some limitations, since almost drowning, Eleanor takes care of everyone before herself. Finding love in an unexpected place and trying to keep that aspect of her life private brings a new set of challenges and excitement.
I highly recommend you read Count the Ways before this novel. Both books may be read as stand-alones, however, your experience will be richer reading them both. This is the best book I have read in a long time. Maynard's descriptive style held me captive throughout the book. I experienced every emotion through Eleanor; her love of family at the top of the list. Maynard provides insight into how society perceives those less than perfect and how greed can cause heartache in unexpected ways. An excellent choice for Book Clubs looking for a novel about current issues and how they affect a family.
Reference
Kintsugi - Japanese art form, which means joining cracks with gold
Other books by Joyce Maynard:
From Amazon
Joyce Maynard is the author of twelve previous novels and five books of nonfiction, as well as the syndicated column, “Domestic Affairs.” Her bestselling memoir, At Home in the World, has been translated into sixteen languages. Her novels To Die For and Labor Day were both adapted for film. Maynard divides her time between homes in California, New Hampshire, and Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.
The mother of three grown children, Maynard runs workshops in memoir at her home in Lafayette California. In 2002 she founded The Lake Atitlan Writing Workshop in San Marcos La Laguna, Guatemala, where she hosts a weeklong workshop in personal storytelling every winter.
She is a fellow of The MacDowell Colony and Yaddo.
Follow Me on Instagram at flaming_books
#womensfiction #familyissues
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