Body Surfing by Anita Shreve

It took a while to get used to the author's style, but the story moved along quickly; and I am glad I read this as it introduced me to the author, who also wrote Aviator's Wife, one on my book list. Sydney lands a summer job as a tutor, while regrouping from the loss of her husband. Shreve writes descriptively of the various family members, and the dysfunctions that lie beneath the surface. I did not love how all the sub-plots played out, but came to enjoy the style. It gave cause to reflect on our initial perceptions of people and situations; and how they sometimes are entirely wrong.

Defending Jacob by William Landay

Our book club reading for March -- Bill also read this with me, so had a good discussion with him. The internal conflicts of a family with a 14 year old son convicted of murder. Delves into the background of the father who a history of pathological males in his family. His own father in jail, he never brought himself to tell his wife of this family "heritage". When the attorney father has to face this charge, all of the history pours back in. Denying that it could be an inherited anger/sociopathic "tendency" -- because he has never had that inclination to kill or to be aloof to others' suffering, the father desperately believes in his son; however the mother questions because she has been aware of the psychological leanings (acting out/ aggression) of her son since he has been small. A complicated book as you doubt the boy, but hope for the best. Because another suspect steps up out of the blue to admit his guilt (coerced by a gangster thug who is friends with the jailed grandfather) -- the charges are dropped. The family starts to get their lives back in order, but another incident sets off alarms in the mother and she chooses the ultimate sacrifice. Ending was hard to read. As I get older, I realize that I love happy endings; in movies and books. The optimist in me believes that the "goodness" in people and in God's ability to "turn our failures into good" -- should win out. Reality is that it does not always work that way.