“Letters are windows casting light, illuminating the ties between two people. I could’ve sneaked a peek inside my parents romance by reading his letters to her, but I respected my mother’s love of curtains. At forty-five, the details of their marriage remained a mystery to me; I had no desire to confirm what I already knew. Even dead, she loved him more than me. My mother spent her days drenched in memories of safe arms and sweet music, reading his precious words, faded ink on yellowed stationery. I looked for ghosts around corners, certain I was running out of time to find a way to be enough for her. An inability to live in the present was the one thing we had in common.” ~from Sea Escape, by Lynne Griffin
Such yearning in this opening paragraph from Lynne Griffin’s latest novel, such desire to deepen the bond between mother and child. It’s this elemental force which drives the plot of Sea Escape, a story about Laura Martinez and her mother, Helen Tobin, a story about the secrets they kept from one another, the feelings they never allowed themselves to share, and the ultimate boundary walls they finally surpassed.
Laura is the meat in the middle of that sandwich generation we hear so much about. At age 45, mother of two small children, happily married with a career as a neonatal nurse, her plate is already incredibly full. When her mother Helen suffers a stroke and becomes largely incapacitated, Laura searches desperately for a way to reach her, to incite her to live again, and to repair the breach that has grown between them over the years. She gathers the love letters written between her parents over the course of their marriage, years Laura’s father spent away from his family working as a foreign correspondent in Korea and Vietnam. These letters have remained Helen’s lifeline to her beloved and to the dreams they shared for their future. By reading them aloud to her mother, Laura hopes to rekindle Helen’s desire to live and buy herself more time to truly understand her parents complicated relationship and how it affected her mother’s love for her only daughter.
As in Life Without Summer, her previous novel, Griffin writes convincingly about the emotional stresses and strains of family relationships. As a practicing family therapist, she knows the power of family ties in shaping our view of the world and of ourselves, and the devastation that can result when they are severed. I could see myself in Laura – the desperate need to be all things to all people, to properly care for her family and her mother and usually short-changing herself in the process; the tendency to keep emotions locked inside, fearful that I’ll upset someone or hurt their feelings. But although I clearly identified with Laura, I was also annoyed with her. Couldn’t she see how her obsession with her parents past was intruding upon her own relationship with her husband, Christian, and with her ability to create a satisfying family life of her own?
Sea Escape (like Life Without Summer) is written from alternating viewpoints, traveling back in time so
that Helen may tell her story “in her own words.” Griffin has mastered this device, and it worked quite well in both her novels. By slowly revealing to the reader each woman’s secrets, it allows us to understand the motives behind their actions and emotions. Both novels were compelling reading, especially if you’re interested in the psychological aspects of family dynamics and relationships.
Sea Escape has been chosen by Entertainment Weekly Magazine as one of their “must -read” books this summer, and was also chosen as an Indie Next List Notable pick.
GIVEAWAY: I’m pleased to offer a copy of Sea Escape, as well as Life Without Summer to a Bookstack reader. Just leave a comment on this post. Recipient will be chosen at random on July 15, 2010.
Sea Escape and Life Without Summer were made available to me through TLC Tours.
This sounds like a completely stunning story, and I feel one that would bring me to tears. I’ve not come across Lynne Griffin yet, but this post is quite beautiful and I feel drawn to it. Thanks for posting, this sounds like one for me to put on my list!
I have never felt that my mother’s love for us was inadequate or half cooked. She is one of the fiercest woman I have ever known when it comes to us. Imagine a mother bear. She’s as protective as that.
Please do count me in. It’s more than my pleasure to read such a book.
P.S Is it open to international readers? I don’t live in the US.
This sounds like a great read. As an adult daughter with an often strained relationship with my mother perhaps there’s a lesson hidden inside it’s pages.
I’m about half way through Sea Escape. It is beautiful and compelling. I highly recommended it. The letters are key too understanding both Helen and Laura and their marriages.
Count me in too! I haven’t read her, but any author you recommend is worth having a look at.
I loved your review and I love the sounds of this book. My mother passed away almost 20 yrs ago, and I wish she was still here to write letters to. She was not only my mother, she was my best friend.
sharon54220@gmail.com
Wow, from what you’ve written this sounds like a really powerful novel. I’d love to read it.
Sounds like a book I could get into. I know all about what it’s like to try to reach your mother & try to make her remember you, your children . . . anything. My mother had Alzheimer’s and the last two years, 3 months of her life were agony for us. There’s no other way to describe it.
JHS
Colloquium
jhsmail at comcast dot net
Oh, I would love to win a copy of Sea Escape (I already have Life Without Summer, and loved it!).
chezraine(at)gmail(dot)com
Emails and tweets just aren’t the same: letters are unique.
I can see how you can get annoyed with Laura though, especially since you identified so closely with her. Thanks for being a part of this tour! (no need to enter me in the contest)
Hopefully I’m in time to enter the giveaway as this definitely sounds like a great summer book. Even better, it’s not all fluff but discusses a topic that is undoubtedly relevant to everyone. Family dynamics are so interested and I love to read about them. Not only does it allow the reader a very intimate glimpse of characters, but it all encourages introspection. I’m always looking for ways to improve my relationship with my mother: we are off and on a lot but I would really love to just be close to her, to understand her better. Anyway, great review. And it’s wonderful that you’re offering a giveaway!
Oh I’m in the mood for contemporary fiction right now and I enjoyed your review.
Beautiful review! I completely agree that is a very compelling story. It’s been a while since I read a book that so successfully illuminated the difficult nature of being a mother and a daughter . . . and both at once.
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