This is the book that 'All Iowa Reads' is doing this year--while I never seem to get to any of the events associated with what is supposed to be a community building affair, I at least managed to read the book the year I was supposed to (something I only manage about once every three years).
'Sing Them Home is the second book by the author, and I very much liked her first, 'Broken For You'--this book is about a family. It is set in small town Nebraska, which is not critical to the plot but it does have a role. Hope, wife of the local obstetrician and mother of three, suddenly disappears in the aftermath of a tornado, never to be seen again. The bulk of the book takes place 25 years after her dissappears--her three children are brought back to their home town by the sudden death of their father--he was struck by lightening (lots of natural disasters to be found on the prairie in Nebraskba, it seems) and the book alternates between each of their narratives, as well as diary entries that their mother made. The three offspring are all broken, but as the story unfolds, it is hard to discern if it is related to their mother's presumed death or is it because of how she lived . There is a secret that unfolds as the book moves forward that makes everything that has happened since seem more understandable. A great rendtion of how a disabling illness affects not just the person who has it, but everyone in their intimate sphere of orbit. The causes of the problems are not explored--the pathologies are revealed, but it is up to the reader to resolve why none of Hope's children are capable of experiencing intimacy. Interesting read.
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