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A rape victim raising a biracial baby. A drug addict haunted by a dead girlfriend. A homosexual mourning a dead lover. A teacher having an affair with his student. And a businesswoman sexually harassed by her boss. What do they all have in common? They all sit at Lorraine White's holiday dinner table; they are also her children.
But Lorraine's children are not the only ones in the family dealing with ghosts of the past. This is the first Christmas the Whites have spent together since the death of their father. And it very well could be their last, as arguments ensue, secrets are revealed, and perhaps a murderer walks among them.
In his latest novel, Shannon Yarbrough explores the damaged soul of one small town family and breaks through the boundaries of love, convincing his readers that no matter how hard life gets, sometimes the support of family is often the only true foundation we have left to depend upon - whether we want it or not
My Thoughts.
I really liked this book. It is a book where each chapter is a different person’s perspective of their lives.
Travis White has been a long time out of high school. He is also been out of the closet since then. His mom wasn’t excepting of this- thinking she had done something “wrong” to turn him this way.
But how could they turn away from his issues when clearly they all had their own.
Martin, the oldest son of Lorraine White- is the “academic” overall good son. Or so people think. What they don’t know happened in the closet of his Science Room with he and a student will never see the light of day.
Ellen, the oldest daughter- is having marriage problems. She had to end up working after being a stay at home mom for 7 years. She had to practically beg to become a worker at the local courthouse. Her new boss then used her “begging'” as a way to force himself on her.. After that- any touch felt a little like his touch.
Travis- He met and fell in love with Justin Black. Justin’s Parents never even considered he might be gay. So Travis has to listen to all the hints and slurs from Justin’s Mom about Travis taking her son away. He then gets a terminal disease and Travis has to face the inevitable.
Sebastian- The youngest son- has a very bad drug problem. SO bad that he wakes up next to a girl he barely knows and she is DEAD. They had overdone it, and she wasn’t waking up. Because she was in HIS bed, he might be facing murder charges..
Clare- The Youngest daughter, has many a problem also. She has a biracial baby. Her family thinks that her and the father just aren’t “together.” When in fact- they never were. She was raped and never told anyone.. she then finds out that she may have been adopted and she needs to think about what to do about it..
*Very good book. Very detailed. Shannon is very good at switching each chapter to a new person. Sometimes when a book is written like this, the readers get lost because it jumps around. This book is nothing like that.
This book is awesome. I couldn’t put it down. I read the entire book within 2-3 days in random spurts. Very interesting and keeps you so engrossed in the book that you just want to keep turning pages.
In this book “everyone knows everyone” in a small town just simply isn’t the truth. Everyone thinks they know, but they haven’t even begun to touch the iceberg.. It’s about a family who would rather shove secrets under the rug rather then face them head on..
Buy the book..
and read what an awesome story line with very real characters that make you think twice about the reality of real.
Disclosure: This isn’t a sponsored post, all opinions are my own. I wasn’t compensated, although I did receive a copy in exchange for a honest review.
I want to thank Shannon Yarbrough for writing such an amazing book. I enjoyed every single page =) Hope to be reading more in the future..
-Jessica
