On the Divinity of Second Chances

April 27, 2009
McLaren's touching if too busy newest weaves together a complex set of family narratives. Phil and Anna's 30-year marriage is crumbling: Anna sleeps in the yard, and Phil busies himself with inane projects. Their oldest daughter, Olive, gets knocked up by her immature boyfriend and quits her bank job to move in with her grandmother. Son Forrest left home at 14, consumed with guilt from a tragic mistake, and could be dead for all Phil and Anna know, though youngest daughter Jade knows where Forrest is, but keeps that, and many other things, secret. As the family drifts farther apart, it will take tango lessons, bagpipes and enormous effort to bring its members back together. While the book starts slow, it picks up steam quickly, though McLaren tries to stuff too much into the narrative, switching character perspectives at an annoying clip. That aside, McLaren manages to present a rich cast dealing gracefully with spirituality and mortality, a not inconsiderable feat considering the material is ripe for kitsch.

April 15, 2009
Jades family is slowly pulling apart. Her grandmother lives on a farm and spends her days angrily shooting at her neighbor with a pistol. Her father, sidelined by a heart attack, putters around the house alphabetizing everything and secretly reading Forbes magazine. Her mother deals with the throes of menopause by painting pictures of raisins. Her older sister, Olive, was recently dumped by her boyfriend because she refused to live in a tipi in the woods with him. Heryounger brother, Forrest, who committed a horrible crime at age 14, lives in self-exile in a tree house in the Idaho wilderness. Jade herself is doing all right, even if the only assistance she gets is from her spirit guide, Grace. When Olive abandons her job and reveals that she is pregnant, the family membersrealize theyve reached a crisis point and they must come back together to find what theyve lost along the way. McLarens involving novel is anuplifting story about unconditional love and family ties.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)