KEY POINTS:
1. How to talk to a widower By Jonathan Tropper (Orion $36.99)
They're a dysfunctional family, this lot. Young widower Doug loses wife Hailey (10 years older) in a plane crash. He is grieving, he is angry; so is his stepson Russ. To add to the confusion, Doug's little sister Debbie (who Russ fancies like mad) is marrying Doug's friend Mike, whom she met at Hailey's funeral. It's all too much for Doug, who would just like to go to sleep and forget everything that has happened but he's having trouble sleeping. Add his pregnant twin sister Claire, who has just left her husband, their mother who is caring for her husband after his stroke, and out of the chaos emerges a plausible, light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel tale. A top read.
2. Barefoot By Elin Hilderbrand (Sphere, $36.99)
It's a wonder these three women were allowed to board their plane to Nantucket with all the excess emotional baggage they're carrying. Brenda has lost her prestigious job as professor of literature after sleeping with a student ... plus there is the issue of some serious damage she did to a very expensive painting belonging to the university. Sister and mother-of-two Vicki is battling aggressive lung cancer. And Vicki's pal Melanie has learned that a) she is pregnant and b) her husband is having an affair. The common factor is Josh, who is, in turn, a babysitter/shoulder to cry on/lover/writer. Gloomy at times, uplifting at others.
3. Come away with me By Sara MacDonald (HarperCollins $24.99)
Jenny's idyllic life is shattered when husband Tom and darling toddler-daughter Rosie die in a bomb blast on their way home from a trip to the zoo. In the midst of her grief, Jenny runs into childhood friend Ruth whose son Adam, strangely enough, was fathered during a fling with Tom but that was before he and Jenny met. Yes, it's a bit confusing at first but the way family, friends and central characters deal with this revelation and the ensuing altered life makes for compelling reading. Perfect page-turning fodder for a wet winter weekend.
4. We are all welcome here By Elizabeth Berg (Random House $26.99)
With the advanced state of vaccinations, you tend to forget about the debilitating effects of diseases like polio. So Elizabeth Berg reminds us as she writes this based-on-true-life account of Paige Dunn who contracted polio when pregnant with daughter Diana, overcoming medical odds by giving birth while in an iron lung. Paige may not be able to move but she controls the movements of the world around her. A different take on mother-daughter relationships that is humbling and poignant.
5. Crazy as chocolate By Elisabeth Hyde (Macmillan $25)
This is also about mother-daughter relationships; in this case, two daughters, Ellie and Izzy. Izzy is turning 41 and dreads the occasion because her chronically depressed mother killed herself on her 41st birthday. But Izzy's fears of imminent mental breakdown are ironically unfounded as the bad genes are more obvious in sister Ellie who battles her demons with the help of therapy and pills. As the birthday dawns, Izzy comes to realise that while her mother may have been crazy, she was and is still her mother. And there are as many good memories as there are bad. A short but thought-provoking read.
