"Tom Putnam, an English professor at a Virginia women's college, has resigned himself to a quiet and half-fulfilled life. For more than ten years, his wife Marjory has been a shut-in, a fragile and frigid woman whose neuroses have left her fully dependent on Tom and his formidable mother-in-law, Agnes Tattle. Tom considers his unhappy condition self-inflicted, since Marjory's condition was exacerbated by her discovery of Tom's brief and misguided affair with a visiting poetess. But when Tom and Marjory meet Rose Callahan, the campus bookstore's charming new hire, and Marjory invites Rose to dinner, her first social interaction in a decade, Tom wonders if it's a sign that change is on the horizon. And when Tom returns home that evening to a letter from the poetess telling him that he'd fathered her son, Henry, and that Henry, now ten, will arrive by train in a few days, it's clear change is coming whether Tom's ready or not. For readers of Helen Simonson and Anna Quindlen, Small Blessings is funny, heart-warming and poignant, with a charmingly imperfect cast of cinema-ready characters. Readers will fall in love with the novel's wonderfully optimistic heart that reminds us that sometimes, when it feels like life is veering irrevocably off track, the track changes in ways we never could have imagined"--
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I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I would never have known about this book if it weren't for NetGalley. And I'm so glad I found it. I noticed it because of the cover and title. Then I did a little research and discovered that Martha Woodroof is affiliated with NPR. I love love love NPR, so that's all I needed. I requested and read it right away.
Small Blessings could definitely go into the literary fiction category, which isn't usually my bag. But in this case, I really liked it because it wasn't overly dramatic and drawn out.
This is the story of a cast of characters at a women's college - Tom Putnam is a loyal, gentle-hearted man who has been taking care of Marjory, his mentally frayed wife, for 20 years; Agnes, Tom's mother-in-law is a quirky, stubborn lady who is searching for her new beginning; Russ Jacobs is a callous, egotistical alcoholic who hides behind his sarcasm and anger; Iris is a spunky red-head who likes to stir the pot but has no real friends. In walks Rose Callahan, an independent, wanderer who is so sure of herself that she makes others sure of themselves, but she is too guarded to let anyone really know her. Within the first few days after Rose's arrival, Marjory dies, and Tom's 6-year-old “son” that he never knew about turns up in town. (Don't worry... not a spoiler... these happen at the very beginning.) What follows is a discovery of self for everyone involved and small blessings that some never thought they deserved.
This book was so beautifully written. Each and every character is so well developed, and the story line is also extremely well-developed but succinct. There are a couple of small surprises, but mostly you can tell where the story is going and where it will end up. In this case, though, the point was not the ending, the point was the journey. And it was a truly inspiring one. The title is perfect... this is a story about people saving each other, facing your demons, and finding the small blessings.
And to add to that, what I love most about books are the small nuances that just make them different from all the rest, where the author puts some of their personality in. In this case, there are a lot of moments obviously dedicated to NPR. Here's a little peek:
The Rolling Stones obligingly began should in her head about not always getting what you want but, provided you try, sometimes getting what you need.
As Van Morrison had put it: It ain't why, why, why, why, why; it just is.
There's just a lot of good old-fashioned wisdom sprinkled throughout this story too, with some slight humor to it:
“When the going gets tough, the tough suck it up,” Agnes said. “The rest get run over.”You'll always have a chance to give up, so why do it now?
I think what really makes this book so great is that it's real life. It really could be someone's true story. It's not cheesy, it's not far-fetched. It just is.. simple and true.
I definitely recommend this book!! And you don't have to wait too long - it comes out on August 12th!! And for anyone in the Richmond, VA area, I found out that Martha Woodroof will be at Fountain Books on September 23 for a signing! Get excited!!
