A novel of how family happens—whether you like it or not.
Elaine and Carson Forsyth have returned to the tree house—Elaine's childhood home, a cabin nestled high in the branches of two oaks beside a North Carolina lake—where forty-nine-year-old Carson has chosen to spend the waning days of his life. As Elaine prepares for a future without her beloved husband, their solace is interrupted. Carson's mother, Greta, has set loose a neighbor's herd of alpacas and landed herself in police custody. While Carson, remarkably, sees humor in the situation, Elaine can only question what her obligations are—and will be—to a woman who hasn't spoken to her in more than twenty years.
In the wake of Carson's death, Elaine and their grown son, Mick, are thrust into the maelstrom of Greta, the mother-in-law and grandmother who never accepted either of them. Just as they are trying to figure out their new roles in the family, Mick uncovers unexpected questions of his own. A long-ago teenage relationship with a local girl may have left him with more than just memories, and he must get to the bottom of Greta's surprising accusations that he's not Carson's son at all. ~~synopsis from Amazon
My thoughts about Safe Within ~~
Okay, first of all, how can you not just love this cover? It is so summery looking and it just makes me want to be there.
So, you start off the book knowing that Carson is sick and is dying. It's a given. That fact just puts the rest of the family into a tail spin. What are they going to do without their son, their dad, the love of their life? And can the three remaining family members get beyond their past in order to survive their future? There are a lot of secrets and bad feelings to get over.
Elaine and Carson go back to their hometown so Carson can die peacefully in Elaine's childhood home, which just happens to be the tree house that her parents built. How awesome would that be? After Carson's death, Elaine and Mick, their son, find themselves having to deal with secrets from the past. But when people from their past need help, can they forgive and be there for them?
One aspect of this story that I loved was the blue lights or 'weather blues' as 'granddaddy called them. They show up at important times in our family.' To me, I felt the lights represented the souls of people passing on or possibly those who had passed, helping other souls along on their journey. That thread added such a beautiful element to the story.
There are such great characters in this story, which is very well written and seemed spiritual and peaceful in parts. Even with all the drama between the characters, I had such good feelings reading Safe Within and I loved the way it ended. This is a story to enjoy and savor.
Jean Reynolds Page has written several other books but this one is the first one of her's that I have read. She is going to be an author I remember and I will be picking up her other works.
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