Posts Tagged ‘Gregory G. Allen’
Gregory G. Allen maintains his spot on my list of authors I want to be stranded with. He earned that honor with Patchwork of Me (which I reviewed), and he keeps it with Cool Side Of The Pillow.
What’s stay-at-home dad Zachary Kleinmann to do when his son goes to pre-school and his services aren’t needed as much? Especially when he lives in an elite Connecticut community where not many understand his stay-at-home status. His wife, her parents, even some of his friends don’t understand how a professional man could throw it all away to stay at home.
But things change when Zachary meets Ginger Charman, leader of a local story-telling group. She’s older and uninhibited. She’s eccentric and Zachary loves the charge she’s bringing to his life.
Not sure what he really wants to be when he grows up, he spends more and more time with Ginger, helping her modernize and transform her entertainment business. When he experiences upheaval in his life, he turns to her and other new friends to get him through.
On the other end he understands life a little better, finds love, and realizes how he wants to spend his life.
Gregory G. Allen writes books about people I end up caring for. I was Zachary’s biggest cheerleader. I fell in love with Ginger and all her problems. As always, I want to know what happens to all these people next. Does the next stage of Zachary’s life make up for the previous one? Does he live happily ever after?
Consider me a giant fan of Gregory G. Allen. I’ll be waiting for his next novel. I hope it comes soon!
Did you happen to see Gregory Allen’s guest post here yesterday? You should check it out!
After reading Patchwork of Me, my list of authors I want to be stranded with just got longer because I’m adding Allen. Honestly, when I come across books like this it’s like my world gets a little bigger…a little brighter…so much better. Yes, I am gushing, because I loved loved loved this novel.
Sara Butler is in her 30s and having strange dreams. In them she is a man suffering a loss. She has a wife. She once had a child. She lives on the East Coast. In reality, she is a single woman in Arizona whose best friends are two gay men and an emotionally cautious woman.
She’s spent months in therapy lying to her therapist because she’s not comfortable sharing that she grew up a foster child. She continues a toxic sex-only relationship. But the dreams persist. That all changes when she is hypnotized and realizes she witnessed a horrific act as a child.
Needing to find out who she really is–and was–sends her on a cathartic journey to reclaim her past and ensure a healthy future.
This book flows like magic through the story that is Sara’s journey. As someone who went on her own adoption journey to find my roots, I found Sara’s story to be spot on. The need to know outweighs the need for emotional safety. Discovery doesn’t mean a pat story and an end, it is the beginning of the rest of your life.
Allen has a marvelous voice. The pacing is smooth, moving through event after event that makes Sara need to know herself.
I truly hope that we get more of Sara’s story. Because the ending leaves us wide open for more!
Do yourself a favor and get this novel. This is what reading is all about–a great story that stays with you long after the final page has been turned.
