Book review

A few weeks ago I was given Once in a Blue Moon by Eileen Goudge to read and review. Like the voracious reader I am, I began reading it right away. Like the posting procrastinator I am, I'm just writing this up now.

The story begins when sisters Lindsay and Kerrie Ann are young, living in a cheap motel with their drug-addicted mother. When Lindsay is 12 and Kerrie Ann just three, they're taken from their mother. Lindsay, who was more a mother-figure to her sister than their mother ever was, was adopted by loving parents. Kerrie Ann wasn't as lucky and spent her childhood in a series of foster homes.

Years later, both adults, Lindsay has been searching for her sister. She doesn't have much luck until the day Kerrie Ann appears in her bookstore, looking for a relative to help her get back on her feet. A newly recovering addict, Kerrie Ann has let history repeat itself when her own daughter was taken from her.

The story goes on to describe how the relationship develops between the two women throughout Kerrie Ann's legal battles, and one of Lindsay's own.

I have to say it was a good story and I found myself relating a lot to Lindsay. (Not that I've ever had or lost a sister, but that I was the older kid who ended up taking care of the younger kids.)

But the one thing that bothered me about Blue Moon was how easily Kerrie Ann seemed to flip from being a recent addict with all the shakiness that implies into a life with a steady job, family and home life. In reality, such transitions are very hard, even when approaching them one at a time. If we are to believe Goudge's work, Kerrie Ann made this transition with only a few tiffs with her sister over showing too much cleavage.

Once in a Blue Moon is now available in stores.