A book you can't put down

books:


	• The Kindness of Strangers Katrina Kittle Harper Perennial, 2007 - 400 pages average customer review:based on 28 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

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.

for more information click here

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.

for more information click here

Like a trainwreck...

I started this book last night and finished it this morning. I literally couldn't put it down and had to tear my eyes away from the pages last night, to force myself to go to sleep. I could have done without the tidy ending; I think the tidiness of the ending took away from the believability of the narrative. If she hadn't wrapped it all up in the end so quickly, I think there could have been some pretty good sequels to this book.

This book is like a train wreck, or some car accident...you can't not look. Good read, please try this out.

for more information click here

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.

for more information click here

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: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

hot