Read Time:1 Minute, 10 Second
When her mother is found dead in her home with a man
who’s apparently her fiancé, Sunny Batten is forced to return to her hometown in King
George, New Hampshire and face her mother’s death, the classmates who once harassed her,
and an almost-step-brother, who’s flying in for the funeral.
Once she
returns home, Sunny finds that some things really do change — like her old classmates
and her mother, who changed from a quiet, self-conscious woman to the town’s leading lady
(in more ways than one) after Sunny left town. And she’s in for a few surprises, too —
like her not-quite step-brother who shares her strikingly thin, prematurely gray
hair.
The Dearly Departed is a light, easy-to-read novel, but I was
disappointed by its lack of development and cohesiveness. The characters aren’t
well-developed — especially the step-brother, Fletcher, who seemed to change
personalities with every turn of the page.
Although Lipman tells her readers all kinds of stories
about the characters’ pasts, most of the stories have very little to do with the
novel itself. And some of the subplots are totally dropped in the middle of the book
(like a possible suspicious death, which is just shrugged off).
So, although it’s a light and easy read, the under-development story and characters made The Dearly Departed less than satisfying.
Kristin Dreyer Kramer has been writing in some form or another (usually when she was supposed to be doing something else) since the ripe old age of ten—when she, her cousin, and their two Cabbage Patch Dolls formed the Poo Authors’ Club. After a short career in advertising, Kristin got sick of always saying nice things about stuff that didn’t deserve it—so now she spends her days criticizing things, and she’s much happier for it.
Since creating NightsAndWeekends.com in February of 2002, Kristin has spent her life surrounded by piles and piles of books and movies—so many that her office has become a kind of entertainment obstacle course.
As if her writing and editing responsibilities for N&W.com weren’t enough to keep her out of trouble, Kristin also hosts a number of weekly radio shows: Reel Discovery, Shelf Discovery, and On the Marquee. She’s also a proud member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association (CriticsChoice.com), the Central Ohio Film Critics Association (COFCA.org), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS.org), and the Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC.Wordpress.com).
Kristin lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, Paul, and their daughter, Anna. She welcomes questions, comments, and fan mail at kdk@nightsandweekends.com.
Happy
0
0 %
Sad
0
0 %
Excited
0
0 %
Sleepy
0
0 %
Angry
0
0 %
Surprise
0
0 %
Kristin Dreyer Kramer has been writing in some form or another (usually when she was supposed to be doing something else) since the ripe old age of ten—when she, her cousin, and their two Cabbage Patch Dolls formed the Poo Authors’ Club. After a short career in advertising, Kristin got sick of always saying nice things about stuff that didn’t deserve it—so now she spends her days criticizing things, and she’s much happier for it.
Since creating NightsAndWeekends.com in February of 2002, Kristin has spent her life surrounded by piles and piles of books and movies—so many that her office has become a kind of entertainment obstacle course.
As if her writing and editing responsibilities for N&W.com weren’t enough to keep her out of trouble, Kristin also hosts a number of weekly radio shows: Reel Discovery, Shelf Discovery, and On the Marquee. She’s also a proud member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association (CriticsChoice.com), the Central Ohio Film Critics Association (COFCA.org), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS.org), and the Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC.Wordpress.com).
Kristin lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, Paul, and their daughter, Anna. She welcomes questions, comments, and fan mail at kdk@nightsandweekends.com.
0
0
