Tuesday, August 31, 2010

77. Thank You for All Things by Sandra Kring

Thank You For All Things was a recommendation to me on Amazon, and I really enjoyed it. It was a touching book, and made me sad and reflective. I give it an A-.

From Amazon:
At twelve, Lucy Marie McGowan already knows she’ll be a psychologist when she grows up. And her quirky and conflicted family provides plenty of opportunity for her to practice her calling. Now Lucy, her “profoundly gifted” twin brother, Milo, her commitment-phobic mother, and her New Age grandmother are leaving Chicago for Timber Falls, Wisconsin, to care for her dying grandfather—a complex and difficult man whose failure as a husband and father still painfully echoes down through the years.Lucy believes her time in the rural town where the McGowan story began will provide a key piece to the puzzle of her family’s broken past, and perhaps even reveal the truth about her own missing father. But what she discovers is so much more—a lesson about the paradoxes of love and the grace of forgiveness that the adults around her will need help in remembering if their family is ever to find peace and embrace the future. By turns heart-wrenching and heart-mending, Thank You for All Things is a powerful and poignant novel by a brilliant storyteller who illustrates that when it comes to matters of family and love, often it is the innocent who force others to confront their darkest secrets.

I loved Lucy and her brother Milo. Oma was another great character, and while I didn't fall in love with Lucy and Milo's mom, she was very realistic. I cried at times while reading this and was reminded of my own grandmother and the way she behaved as she was passing away. It is clear that Ms. Kring did her research on hospice and what happens along the way. While there were difficult topics in the book, including child abuse, it was very touching and a great read. It really got me thinking about my own relationships, but in a good way. I will be checking out more by Ms. Kring!

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