Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Small Blessings


Synopsis:


From debut novelist Martha Woodroof comes an inspiring tale of a small-town college professor, a remarkable new woman at the bookshop, and the ten-year old son he never knew he had. 

 Tom Putnam has resigned himself to a quiet and half-fulfilled life. An English professor in a sleepy college town, he spends his days browsing the Shakespeare shelves at the campus bookstore, managing the oddball faculty in his department and caring, alongside his formidable mother-in-law, for his wife Marjory, a fragile shut-in with unrelenting neuroses, a condition exacerbated by her discovery of Tom’s brief and misguided affair with a visiting poetess a decade earlier.

Then, one evening at the bookstore, Tom and Marjory meet Rose Callahan, the shop's charming new hire, and Marjory invites Rose to their home for dinner, out of the blue, her first social interaction since her breakdown. Tom wonders if it’s a sign that change is on the horizon, a feeling confirmed upon his return home, where he opens a letter from his former paramour, informing him he'd fathered a son who is heading Tom's way on a train.  His mind races at the possibility of having a family after so many years of loneliness. And it becomes clear change is coming whether Tom’s ready or not.

A heartwarming story with a charmingly imperfect cast of characters to cheer for, Small Blessings's wonderfully optimistic heart that reminds us that sometimes, when it feels like life has veered irrevocably off track, the track shifts in ways we never can have imagined.



My Review:


This is such a sweet and delightful story to read. Tom Putnam is a college professor who has been married to Marjory for 20 years. Marjory, has a great number of mental issues which make her very odd and prone to acting out strangely in front of other people. Tom has been caring for Marjory throughout their entire empty and lonely marriage as he feels it is his lot in life to do so. He is not content but feels he is responsible for making sure his wife is safe and cared for. Living with Tom and Marjory is Agnes, Marjory's mother. She is a tough-as-nails character who is well aware of her daughter's many issues and feels somewhat guilty but unable to help her. She is convinced that Marjory is a tragedy in progress with a bleak future to offer Tom. She likes Tom. She thinks Tom has put up with a lot to be loyal to her daughter. Tom really likes Agnes because truly she is the only other sensible adult he can relate to in his world. Then, there is Russell, he is the friend that you have to know to love. He is self-absorbed and arrogant. But, as Tom is accustomed to, he is a loyal friend to Russell regardless of any and all of his obnoxious behavior. Rose Callahan comes to town to be the new social events coordinator at the university bookstore. She brightens everyone's days and breathes fresh air into the stodgy world of academia. She's not particularly beautiful but her warmth and her loveable spirit resonates with everyone she meets, including Marjory, Tom, Russell, Agnes and even Henry. Henry is a surprise visitor sent to Tom soon after Marjory's death resulting from a car accident. Suicide or accident? We'll never know.  However, it turns out that Henry is carrying a $500K in his backpack and a birth certificate that legally binds Tom Putnam as his father.  All of these characters undergo a re-birth of sorts after Marjory's death. The events that follow become the small blessings each of the characters have failed to focus on in the time before Marjory dies.  These small blessings are the ones that save each one of these characters from a life of unhappiness, a life of fear, a life where one has to age and doesn't want to do it alone, a life of alcoholism and finally an innocent life potentially doomed by the unfortunate mistakes a mentally-ill, drug addicted young mother has chosen for herself.

The story is heartwarming and is even very funny in some sections. To me, this was a very rewarding and happy read - specially at the end. It made me reflect on the importance of kindness, understanding, patience and love. Also, one important theme in the book is that loving a child whether he/she is biologically or legally your child or not is all that makes a parent a parent. No matter how a child comes into your life, once you assume the role of parent the biology no longer matters.

1 comment:

  1. I loved this book (it will be on my 2014 Favorites list). I think it would be a wonderful film.

    ReplyDelete