THE THINGS WE DO FOR LOVE by Kristin Hannah
One of our most basic needs is the need to reproduce. For some it comes easily, and not a second thought is given to it. For others there is the pain and agony of going through the rigors of trying to have a baby, and meeting failure month after month. Author Kristin Hannah explores the feelings of failure of this type in her new novel THE THINGS WE DO FOR LOVE.
Conlan and Angie Malone are a couple who live in the Pacific Northwest. They love each other totally but their failure to have a child is driving a wedge between them. They have suffered miscarriages and failed adoptions, and each one has torn a piece off their hearts and off their marriage. Finally all they can do is admit defeat and call it quits.
Angie returns to the town where she grew up and where everyone knows her name and her full story. Her beloved father has died but her mother and two sisters, and their families, are still there. They are all involved in the operation off the family restaurant but it is not the success it was when the family patriarch was alive and running it.
It is up to Angie to help make the restaurant a success again and she dives into this project with enthusiasm and insight. She is her father's daughter and his abilities flow through her.
In another part of town Lauren Ribido is trying to survive. She and her mother are fighting a losing battle trying to make ends meet. Lauren is a high school senior, a scholarship student at a posh private school. She has made a good set of friends and has a boyfriend who loves her dearly. He is from a wealthy family but they seem to accept Lauren, at least on the surface.
Lauren's mother is a drunk. She resents the fact she has a child and complains about her life from morning till night. Lately her moments of being sober have become further and further apart, so Lauren has turned into their main source of financial support. Her situation is becoming desperate and she needs a small miracle to get her through her life.
These two women's lives are being drawn together. One has a need to help, and the other has a need to be helped. Perhaps they can find a way to join forces and survive. And in Kristin Hannah's world they can.
Hannah does not make everything predictable in her story. She has some twists and turns ready for the readers, and some real surprises at the end. But she also has firm control of her plot and she knows her characters inside and out. They are flawed human beings but that is what makes them so appealing.
This book is a many faceted love story. There is love between a man and a woman, a parent and a child, sisterly love, and that between two strangers who share a basic need. Each of these relationships is explored in the fullest and most personal way possible, and each one touches our heart.
Kristin Hannah is a writer with powerful talent. She has a love for her craft and we reap the benefits in her stories that display her passion. She obviously writes with her head and her heart, and there is no better combination than that.
THE THINGS WE DO FOR LOVE is published by Ballantine Books. It contains 388 pages and sells for $23.95.