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Potter Springs tells the story of Mark Reynolds
and Amanda Thompson, a young couple living in Houston, Texas. Amanda is from a wealthy
family, and Mark is a minister at a very high-profile Baptist church. When they find out
that Amanda is pregnant—before their wedding—Mark is fired from his job, and they have to
relocate to a small town in the Oklahoma panhandle called Potter
Springs.
When Amanda has a miscarriage and finds out that it will be
impossible for her to conceive children in the future, she plunges into a deep depression
and becomes reclusive, not letting anyone in—even her husband. After an extended trip
back to Houston, she takes a wrong turn toward Mexico and continues that way, running
away from her husband, her problems, and her life in Potter Springs. As a hurricane
closes in, Mark rushes to Mexico in the hopes of saving his marriage.
I
really didn’t care much for this book. Britta Coleman is a first-time novelist, and her
writing tends to be very overdone and clichéd at times. Her use of simile is so abundant
that it becomes more of a distraction than anything else, and the underlying message is
so heavy-handed that it sours the story. (When Amanda is trying to decide whether or not
to go home, she sees a gardener working without gloves. He continually cuts his hand on
the thorns, and she asks him why he puts up with it. His response: “It is worth it for
the roses.” Amanda, of course, ends up interpreting this as a metaphor for life.) I
found it difficult to like the main characters—maybe I’m a cynic, but I grew very
impatient with Amanda in her depressive state and found myself questioning her
motivations. I couldn’t help but wonder why she didn’t get therapy or seek out adoption
or alternative fertilization techniques when she found out that she couldn’t conceive. I
was intrigued in the beginning by some of the smaller characters—the townspeople of
Potter Springs—but they turned out to be little more than stereotypes. I would have
really liked to see those characters fleshed out more. And the cop-out happy ending was
sappy, saccharine-sweet, and unrealistic.
Basically, Potter Springs
is a soap-opera-style story where love conquers all, regardless of the circumstances.
It’s a quick read, and it’s just fine if you’re the hopeless romantic type. But if
you’re looking for a strong story with characters that resonate with you, I’d skip this
one.
