Book Review:In Leah's Wake

Do you have favorite authors? I do too. My favorites write stories in a style that I like and have proven to be creative in their writing.

I find that, personally, I don't tend to follow some of the more popular authors. You know who they are, they've written so many bestsellers that their new books debut at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. I've found, over time, that some of these authors tend to become cookie cutters, pumping out novels to fulfill a publishing contract. They lose creativity sometimes.

In the last 3-4 years, I've tended to seek out and read newer authors. You'll find my book reviews reflect that. You'll see authors here that may not be familiar to you. I hope to help you discover a bit of freshness, offer opportunities to introduce you to some lesser known but very talented writers.

This past week I read In Leah's Wake by Terri Giuliano Long. This is her debut novel and I was very impressed.
The story is about a family with 2 daughters. It explores issues that many parents are dealing with...teens smoking, dating, experimenting with drugs. Yep, we've all read these before. Terri Giuliano Long takes these issues to new depths, adding in the instability of marriage, the economy and it's affects on the members of the family. As in real life, nothing about this family is neat or easy.

This is a complex story with compelling characters. At one point, I felt like it was almost too intense...partly because I'm not a parent. I find that I can avoid some of the worries about what kids these days are dealing with. There were times when it reminded me of Go Ask Alice, which I read in the 70's, when the story was told from Leah's perspective.

The characters are imperfect, make mistakes. You cannot walk away from this without thinking about your own teen years, the mistakes you've made as a parent.

As I was reading this ebook, I had to keep reminding myself that it was Terri's first book.
It's fiction but I can imagine similar scenarios taking place in many households across the country. I would go so far as to suggest this is a must read for parents of teens.

I purchased this book from Smashwords but it's available in ebook format at all the usual sites.  The limited first printing of paperbacks seems to be sold out on B&N and Amazon.

Check this out and you are guaranteed to be impressed!

Happy reading,

Pauline