Helpful Score: 9
So glad Cai Emmons took the plunge and decided to write a novel. This book is SO well-written. In a nutshell, the book is about a young mother, Jana, who is beside herself with worry that her young son is showing signs of becoming a murderer in the footsteps of his uncle, her brother. But the full story is far more complicated than that. The woman, an ER doctor, has kept her past hidden even from the husband and child she adores.
The murders occurred while Jana was in college and her brother was just a teen. The inexplicable and completely unexpected event resulted in Jana's fateful decision to leave the past completely behind her, even to the extent of changing her name and ceasing all contact with her once-beloved brother. The past has a way of catching up to us one way or another, though, and Jana is not immune to this. As her child develops, Jana begins obsessing over her son's childish actions - actions others might consider completely normal, but which she sees as sure signs of some sort of psycopathy. Her obsession begins to cause a rift between her and her husband and it also affects her at work.
Then, out of the blue, she learns that her brother is dying from AIDS and, just as suddenly, the walls she has built around her past begin to crumble, exposing what she has fought to forget.
The author writes with such depth and insight that you have to wonder if she has experienced a similar tragedy, conflict, or exposure. She forces you to see things differently than you've seen them before and gives you new ways to think about life and death and that which we hold dear.
I'll be looking for more from Ms. Emmons.
The murders occurred while Jana was in college and her brother was just a teen. The inexplicable and completely unexpected event resulted in Jana's fateful decision to leave the past completely behind her, even to the extent of changing her name and ceasing all contact with her once-beloved brother. The past has a way of catching up to us one way or another, though, and Jana is not immune to this. As her child develops, Jana begins obsessing over her son's childish actions - actions others might consider completely normal, but which she sees as sure signs of some sort of psycopathy. Her obsession begins to cause a rift between her and her husband and it also affects her at work.
Then, out of the blue, she learns that her brother is dying from AIDS and, just as suddenly, the walls she has built around her past begin to crumble, exposing what she has fought to forget.
The author writes with such depth and insight that you have to wonder if she has experienced a similar tragedy, conflict, or exposure. She forces you to see things differently than you've seen them before and gives you new ways to think about life and death and that which we hold dear.
I'll be looking for more from Ms. Emmons.
Helpful Score: 3
Very interesting story about a mother desperately trying to prevent her five year old son fro, becoming a serial killer, based on gentics. This is a debut novel by a very good author. I hope she writes more.
Reminds me of a Sue Miller book. Very good read.
A good read, though plodded along at times as noted by other reviewers.
From the rear cover: "To those who meet Jana Thomas, hers seems a perfect life, with a beautiful home, a successful career as an ER doctor, a loving husband, and a lively six-year-old son named Evan. But inside, Jana is crumbling. Evan's seemingly normal all-boy tendencies are escalating her motherly worry into something close to hysteria, threatening her job, her marriage, and her relationship with her son.
The real source of Jana's disintegration is a past she has kept buried for sixteen yers. When that past begins to bleed into the present, Jana is forced to plunge into the emotional whirlpool she left behind-with results that are shattering, profound, and wrenchingly moving."
The real source of Jana's disintegration is a past she has kept buried for sixteen yers. When that past begins to bleed into the present, Jana is forced to plunge into the emotional whirlpool she left behind-with results that are shattering, profound, and wrenchingly moving."
Interesting plot-I found it dragged some at the end. It does show you how a highly educated woman can still make some bad decisions.
I found the premise of this book to be extraordinarily interesting; however, I didn't find that it fulfilled its early promise. It seemed to plod along without any particular insights into Cady's personality. The husband was an enigma to me, and his relationship with his mother was vaguely disturbing. I was left feeling disappointed that there wasn't more substance to this book.
