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Brenda Lockhart’s family has been living well beyond their means for too long when Brenda’s husband leaves them—for an older and less attractive woman than Brenda, no less. Brenda’s never worked outside the home, and the family’s economic situation quickly declines. Oldest daughter Peggy is certain she’s heading off to a university, until her father offers her a job sorting mail while she attends community college instead. Younger daughter Allison, a high school senior, can’t believe her luck that California golden boy Kevin has fallen in love with her. Meanwhile, the chatter about the O. J. Simpson murder investigations is always on in the background, a media frenzy that underscores domestic violence against women and race and class divisions in Southern California. Brenda, increasingly obsessed with the case, is convinced O. J. is innocent and has been framed by the LAPD. Both daughters are more interested in their own lives, until Peggy starts noticing bruises Allison can’t explain. For a while, it feels to everyone as if the family is falling apart; but in the end, they all come together again in unexpected ways.
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Camarillo does a really great job of writing a book about the lives of three women; one dealing with divorce, one with big dreams that come crashing down, and one who can never be anything but “perfect” but is a long way away from it.
I felt that this book was a realistic portrayal of the struggle hidden behind the perfect veneer of a middle-class suburban household. Teenage pregnancy, drug abuse, secrets, betrayal, and overall mistrust run heavy throughout the story. It strongly delves into the idea that even if things seem perfect on the outside, it can be far from it.
It also shows how women are pressured into being a certain way or doing certain things in order to feel worthy of love. Sometimes becoming something we didn’t think we were to feel special, to feel noticed, or important.
Living up to what you think others want of you or see in you, can be an unachievable goal. And just being honest, and finding yourself in a world that is always asking something of you, can make all the difference in the world.
Thanks to @BookSparks for the gifted book.