Nicole Bokat, What Matters Most

What Matters Most

Nicole Bokat

NAL, Oct 2006, $12.95

ISBN: 0451219481

Feeling as if she must have been adopted as everyone else in her family is doctors, Georgia Merkin dreams of becoming an author. Her laid-back attitude and her chosen vocation as a wannabe author upsets her mother who believes women should pursue real professional careers like physicians.

However, Georgia suffers two blows to her mental stability. First her beloved dad Adam, who always encouraged her to be what she wanted to be, dies, and her ex-husband's latest girlfriend is moving in with him. Though she does not want anything permanent with her former spouse, she did enjoy occasionally getting together with him. Despondent, she and her mother talk as Estelle grieves too. As they finally find common ground, Estelle reveals secrets to her offspring that could end their relationship just as it seems to finally gel.

This is an interesting relationship drama in which the death of the one person who kept the family together leaves the two grieving survivors to choose between finding solace with one another or widen their rift. All three Merkin family members seem genuine though Adam is, through flashbacks, perceived mostly by Georgia. Readers who enjoy an interesting mother and daughter tale will want to learn how Nicole Bokat answers What Matters Most.

Harriet Klausner