Between a Mother and her Child

August 15, 2013
A work of fiction based on the 2004 Indonesian tsunami. British author Noble weaves multiple narrative threads into the family saga. Maggie, an Australian girl, gives up her Olympic dream to marry Bill, a British boy traveling around the Pacific, when she discovers she is pregnant. Maggie leaves her beloved sister, Olivia, in Australia to move to England with Bill. After their beloved child, Jake, is born, they have two more children: a daughter, Aly, and a son with special needs, Stan. When Jake, with his father's encouragement, decides to take a year to travel the Pacific Rim countries with friends before attending university, his family is happy for him. But then he dies on a beach during a tsunami, leaving the family devastated. Maggie and Bill subsequently grow apart. Then, Bill meets a young widow, Carrie, in a grief support group, and they fall in love. Olivia, herself involved with someone, comes to England to help her older sister. Enter Kate, a woman hired to act as caregiver to a now fractured family. Naturally, Kate has a story all her own. Sacrificed dreams and buried feelings collide in this U.K. best-seller.

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September 1, 2013

Devastated from the death of their oldest son, Jake, killed in the 2004 tsunami while traveling on a gap year in Asia, the members of the Barrett family cope with the sudden tragedy in different but similarly isolated ways. Bill confronts his son's death by visiting Thailand, where Jake died. A once creatively vibrant mother of three, Maggie retreats into herself, relying on emotional help from her younger sister Olivia. Teenaged Aly throws herself into schoolwork. Too young to have known his older brother well, Stan is more impacted by the actions of his family. When Bill moves out, then meets another woman at his grief counseling group, Maggie must learn to cope with even more change and further emotional repercussions. Worried for her sister, Olivia convinces Maggie to hire an elderly housekeeper named Kate. Leaning on Kate's patience and wisdom, the family finally begin to show signs of recovery. VERDICT British author Noble (The Reading Group; The Friendship Test) vividly and sensitively explores family relationships in the midst of a crisis and its aftermath. A London Times best seller and a "Richard and Judy Pick," this emotionally compelling and absorbing tale of a family dealing with grief and change will resonate with readers of thoughtful domestic fiction.--Joy Gunn, Paseo Verde Lib., Henderson, NV

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2013
Maggie Barrett can't sleep, so she cleans. Her house is spotless since her husband, Bill, moved out and moved on with someone new. Her teenage daughter, Aly, and young son, Stan, seem better able to cope with the death of the Barretts' oldest child, Jakeor are they? Meanwhile, Kate Miller's life has been all shades of gray since the death of her husband. Maggie's sister, visiting from Australia, answers Kate's unusual ad for a sort-of-housekeeping position. Kate becomes a rent-a-granny for Stan, then a trusted friend to Maggie and Aly, who is dealing with more than just A-levels. But it's not quite Mary Poppins, for Kate has a secret grief of her own. Though Noble piles on plot twists (good grief, the women in this book are fertile), none of it feels contrivedjust the normal things, both crappy and wonderful, that happen in life when things change. Realistic but not maudlin (Stan's ebullient energy helps), this is a moving portrait of family love and the many unexpected shapes it takes. A best-seller in the UK and a sure bet for women's-fiction readers here.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)