Take Daily as Needed
A Novel in Stories
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Maeve Beaufort’s family is messy and complicated, rife with competing demands, difficult compromises, and on-the-spot judgment calls. She is the single mother of Noelle, who has anaphylactic reactions to nuts, and Norm, a nonconformist child whom everyone wants to diagnose. Her father is spending his retirement on high-ticket items he doesn’t need, her children’s teachers are suggesting medication, and her mood-swinging mother is threatening to move in. Newly diagnosed herself with Crohn’s disease, Maeve feels as though she is failing herself, her parents, and her children. But with spirit and determination—and a healthy dose of survival humor—she gives it her best go. Anyone who has ever felt overwhelmed, underappreciated, underpaid, and underwater will find a kindred spirit in Maeve.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The solid latest from Trueblood (The Baby Lottery) is a novel in nonlinear stories told from the perspective of Maeve, a mother of two and paralegal in Washington State dealing with Crohn's disease. "Time Bomb Baby" opens with a narrative built around ambulance rides for Maeve and her young daughter, Noelle, due to allergic reactions. In the title story, after divorcing her husband of 15 years, Maeve hires a local college student to fix up her house, while "Pack Something Black" sees Maeve planning her father's funeral while coming to terms with their uneven relationship. A pair of stories, "Totaled" and "Self-Defense," focuses on Maeve's interactions with her children. In the first, her stoner son, Norman, diagnosed with Asperger's, crashes his car; in the second, Maeve brings Noelle, now a teenager, to a self-defense class, which opens up a conversation about friendships and dating. Throughout, Trueblood confidently sculpts her protagonist, and though some stories lack spark, the book works best when juxtaposing medical and emotional well-being; when Maeve wonders if her boyfriend will want to stay with her after a Crohn's flare-up in the novel's closing story, her concern is palpable. Readers will appreciate the character wrinkles each new story turns up.
