A book you can't put down

books:


	• The Kindness of Strangers Katrina Kittle Harper Perennial, 2007 - 400 pages average customer review:based on 37 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Disappointing

I worked with abused children for a number of years, and I was impressed by the research that Kittle did for her book. However, I would have appreciated a more tightly knit story. Throughout the book, I kept wishing that the author would get out of the way of the story, and that the editor had cut out at least 100 pages, if not more. In a well written book, we don't have to be told how someone feels - a good writer knows how to show the characters' emotions through their actions. Maybe that's why I didn't find the characters very believable. Yes, things like this happen in good neighborhoods and in normal-looking families, but it seemed to me that the author just trotted out some stereotypical characters and tried to find motivation for them. For example, it's pretty darn unusual for a neighbor to adopt a child when there are relatives who could take him in, and frankly I don't think that a real-life Sarah would have volunteered to care for Jordan. Her boys were cookie-cutter children, and Mark was a caricature of a pedophile. Courtney was semi-believable until she showed up to snatch Jordan from Sarah's house - that scene was a bit over-the-top. Jordan was the most believable character, but Kittle just used way too much verbiage to describe his emotions. And, really, was it absolutely necessary to give us quite that much detail about what went on in that house? It's one thing to bring a sensitive subject out in the open, and quite another to beat us over the head with it.

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Gargoyles in the Garden

Sarah, a widow and mother of Nate, 17 and Danny, 11 runs a thriving catering business. She is also a master chef and maker of wedding cakes and is held in high esteem in her suburban Oakhaven Ohio community.

Her neighbor, Courtney, an obstetrician has extended friendship to Sarah during her bereavement. Courtney's son Jordan, also 11 is friends with Danny and is Danny's classmate. Courtney tells Sarah that she thinks Jordan has Asperger's Syndrome, the spectrum partner to autism as he is sorely lacking in social skills.

But does he have Asperger's? Or is Jordan's behavior reflective of external circumstances rather than internal ones? A rainy day encounter with Jordan washes away all illusions that Sarah once had about Courtney. Shivering and disoriented, Jordan stands outside his house, although school has already started. Sarah offers to drive him until she realizes he is in no condition to attend. After a traumatic suicide attempt on Jordan's part, Sarah rushes him to the local hospital where medical personnel discover that the boy has been sexually abused. Ironically, it is the same hospital where Courtney works and where Sarah's husband died some two years earlier.

Layers of boils get lanced as more ugly secrets erupt, dancing out like a parade of skeletons in a closet. Not only has Jordan been abused, but so have other children. Courtney's mask of respectability has been torn off, revealing a cracked, twisted gargoyle in its place. Instead of being loving neighbors and parents, Courtney and Mark have been running a child pornography ring. Jordan, severely traumatized has developed some incredible coping skills.

As more layers of deceit get peeled away, Sarah re-evaluates herself; her neighbors and her judgment. Nate steps up to the plate for Jordan by encouraging Sarah to take him in as a foster child. Once the bandages and red tape are cut away, the family can heal and bond. The Ladens are clearly Laden with love and step up to the plate for Jordan. I especially loved Nate. One part that made me smile was how Nate and Jordan really got into venting their anger at Jordan's parents, who were truly monstrous.

This is an excellent book, a genuine page turner. The garden theme/persistent images is very effective. I highly recommend this book, especially for its realistic and sensitive treatment of a very painful topic. Katrina Kittle is certainly an author to watch out for. This book is outstanding.

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Beautifully written

It's one thing to hear about child abuse in the news...and quite another to learn that your neighbor's 11-year-old son has been molested for years by his own parents. That's exactly what happens to Sarah Laden, a recently widowed caterer struggling with her own grief and two adolescent sons.

After the traumatized young Jordan is hospitalized following a botched suicide attempt, Sarah's son convinces her that it's their duty to become his foster family. Although Sarah feels they have enough of their own problems -- least of all being Jordan's sudden unexplained falling-out with his former best friend, Sarah's younger son Danny -- she also feels a need to figure out what's happened, within her own mind. Since she, a grown woman and an outsider, cannot truly fathom the things that the Kendricks did, both with their own son and other children, it's little wonder that Jordan feels completely violated and without hope.

I think the author did a fine job, combining a fictitious account of a young boy's horrors with factual information, allowing the readers to come away feeling like they've gained some insight on a very real situation that affects all too many innocent children in our society.

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A book you can't put down

I picked this book up at the book store without any prior knowledge of its story line or popularity. Once I began reading it, I couldn't put it down. It deals with child abuse by describing the impact it has on all who it involves -- the victim, parent, caretaker, victim's friends, etc. I thought the impact was thoughtfully and realistically described. At the same time, the story line is absolutely compelling. You are kept guessing about the true involvement of the mother. I loved Sarah as a character as well as the detailed manner in which her culinary skills were relayed. This was a great read.

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Disturbing Subject Matter

I think this book was well written but as the parent of a young child I had a hard time getting past the delicate subject matter.

reviews: 1, 2, page 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

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