Marriage | Book Chatter

The Invaders
By Karolina Waclawiak
Regan Arts, Hardcover, 9781941393291, July 2015, 240pp.

The Short of It:

No calm water here. This beach-front community is on the verge of ruin and the frenetic energy of its characters comes bursting out in strange and unusual ways.

The Rest of It:

The story revolves around the inhabitants of a country-club community located along the Connecticut shoreline. Beach-front properties, club houses, sparkling pools filled with forty-something-year-old women trying to look good for anyone who will look at them, and the disgusting tourists that force themselves upon the beach with their dirty little dogs and whiny kids. Yes, it’s a story of US versus THEM and although it’s a little strange to follow, it’s just so juicy to read.

The story is told in alternating points of view between Cheryl and her adult stepson, Teddy. Cheryl is married to Teddy’s father Jeffrey. Cheryl is Jeffrey’s second wife. Although she was a trophy wife when she first moved in, ten years has aged her and her relationship with Jeffrey is hardly a relationship at all. With him gone all the time for work, Cheryl spends her days gardening, taking long walks and paying far too much attention to what is going on in the so-called community.

Teddy, is Cheryl’s adult stepson who returns home after getting booted out of college. He’s hooked on painkillers, sex and seems intent on making poor choices but there’s a sadness to Teddy that you can’t ignore and when he and Cheryl begin to fall apart at the same time but in totally different ways, it’s impossible to know what will happen.

The Invaders puts you right in the middle of the story. I could smell the sea air, hear the water splashing and feel the tension of that tight-knit community along with all of its airs and affluence and yes, sadness. There is much sadness in-between these pages. There’s also, a rawness to the story that leaves you a little off kilter.

It’s hard to like anyone in this novel. Everyone is stripped down and flayed bare but the complexities between the characters and the struggles they have within their own lives is what makes them so interesting.

I’ve never read a book that I liked and hated as much as this one. I’d flip a page and hate it and then I’d read a paragraph and love it again. I kept going back and forth like that throughout the entire book! In the end, I think I’m safe in saying that it impressed me but that ending! Boy!

This book may have a beach setting but it’s not a lighthearted read. It’s filled with desperate people who really just want to be loved. It’s dreadful but at the same time, so good.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Summerlong
By Dean Bakopoulos
(Ecco Press, Hardcover, 9780062321169, June 2015, 368pp.)

The Short of It:

A very dark look at marriage in the midst of a midlife crisis. Heavily laced with tension but so hard to look away.

The Rest of It:

See that cover? Looking at it now, I’d say it hints at the trouble lurking between its pages but I bet a lot of readers picked this one up thinking it was a fun beach read. It is SO not that.

Nope. This one is about a marriage falling apart during a long, hot summer in Iowa. Don has a secret. His failures as a real estate agent have taken their toll and due to the insurmountable debt he’s created, he’s about to lose his home. Claire, aware of their financial troubles but not fully in the know over just how bad it’s gotten, doesn’t take the news all that well and becomes attracted to Charlie, who happens to be in town dealing with some property after his father’s death.

One evening, Don takes a walk in the neighborhood and meets a young woman who goes by the name ABC. She’s young and vibrant but grieving over a loss of her own. She’s working as a caretaker for a pot-smoking pistol of a lady who’s seen a thing or two in her day. ABC invites him in to light up and what seems totally out of character for Don, suddenly becomes a regular thing.

Don and Claire have so many issues. As parents, they find themselves so completely absorbed with their own problems, that they both end up leaving the house one night only to realize the next morning that they left their kids unattended.

Surprisingly, ABC and Charlie also have their own issues to deal with. These four people hook-up with each other, sometimes in surprising combinations but they are all searching for the same thing. Love, acceptance, redemption, peace.

I didn’t like Claire. She’s self-absorbed, bitchy and intent on being miserable. She’s one of THOSE people but sadly, I could relate to some of what she was going through. As Don tries his hardest to make things right, she continues to push him away and I wanted to slap her for it. Yeah, I guess I liked Don a lot.

I really loved this book. It’s dark because it paints such a real picture of a marriage in crisis but in between the crusty bits there’s hope, too. I love how the characters play off of one another. It’s so natural and effortless even though as a reader sometimes I caught myself thinking, “No! Don’t do it!”

Summer is typically a time for lighter, fluffier reads but not for me. I prefer to sink my teeth into something with a little bite and this book satisfied all my wants.

Source: Sent to me by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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