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Critic's Corner
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BOOK
REVIEW: How is it possible not to know that your husband of 20 years, the father of your three children, is about to leave you? Julieanne Gillis, the protagonist of "The Breakdown Lane," says: "It's possible. You can choose not to know anything you want not to know, if you want badly enough not to know it. And if you have a little help. A husband who lies, for example, not only next to you in bed, but through his teeth." Mitchard, author of "The Deep End of the Ocean," surpasses her previous work by giving readers a novel of consequence that entertains and informs with a candor and empathy few authors are able to achieve. Julie Gillis enjoys her work as an advice columnist for The Sheboygan News-Clarionnewspaper. The position doesn't pay much but allows her to spend time with her family and to continue with her ballet and exercise programs. She has a good life, a contented life, and all is well with her world. It is at this moment, the beginning of the second act of Julie's life, that we meet her. Julie slowly realized something was amiss in her nervous system and in the ecosystem of her marriage. It began during her ballet and pilates exercise class when her leg refused to respond properly. Not a small thing to someone who has studied dance most of her life. Call it a symptom of things to come. The next event comes suddenly on the heels of the first. Her husband, Leo Steiner, turns 49 and goes "mid-life crazy." Was it sudden? Maybe not. The symptoms of Leo's unrest with his marriage and family responsibilities started long before Julie noticed the wobbles in her gait, the fuzzy vision, trembling hands, yet those symptoms of a troubled marriage as well as her physical ones were buried. Buried, until Leo made his earth shattering announcement. Leo, chief legal counsel to the chancellor at Wisconsin StateUniversity in Sheboygan, takes early retirement and informs his family he is taking a sabbatical from life as usual. He's off to New England to explore new horizons. Oh well, you've heard the drill. What Leo is really saying is that he's tired of the responsibilities of a wife and children and wants a life of free love and nickel beer. Childish? Irresponsible? You bet it is. This event in Julie's life would have been enough to send anyone into a deep depression, but fate has another shock in the closet for her. Shortly after Leo's departure, Julie is diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. She is terrified as anyone would be. She's left with financial burdens she cannot meet, three children (two teenagers and a two-year-old), and an illness as bad, if not worse than losing the love of her life. The succeeding months are filled with a confusion and sadness that shake the core of the entire family. Gabe and Caro, the two teens in the family have their own growing pains. Gabe, wise beyond his 15 years, but with ADD (Attention Deficient Disorder) and a language processing learning disability, does his best to help his mother. With Cathy, Julie's best friend, Gabe becomes adept at writing his mother's advice column for the paper so she won't lose her job. Caro, one year younger than Gabe is a wild child. She's offensive, self-centered, and unfeeling regarding her mother's illness and the problems facing the family. Aury, is —well—two and blissfully unaware her world is in chaos. The journey of finding their way in this new and unsettled world shows the deftness of the author in portraying loss, hope, and every kind of love that exists. Mitchard is so spot-on she is eerie. Words and phrases, actions and reactions, are beautifully crafted. However, it is the reader identification Mitchard brings to her characterizations that raise this novel out of the depths of despair back into the beauty of life worth living. The extensive research exemplified in the descriptive passages regarding MS, ADD, and families in mid-life crises, is simply stunning. All this tragedy doesn't sound like a fun read and it isn't at first blush. What it is, is the most readable novel to come down the pike in years. It is compulsive, unputdownable, and totally addictive. "The Breakdown Lane," is a novel you will read once, then again and again. Copyright June 2005 Patricia Ann Jones Save Up to 30% on this book at Amazon.com Jones is a published writer and book reviewer for Tulsa World newspaper. To comment on this review you may email pattij777@aol.com |
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The
Breakdown Lane
