If Truth Be Told
Lynda Fitzgerald
Five Star, Jun 2007, $26.95
ISBN: 1594144737

In 1961 when Christie O'Kelly was fourteen her beloved Uncle Jack, who serves as her male role model after her dad died, remarried. At the ceremony, Christie and her older sisters meet their new Aunt Carly's son Todd. Christie thinks he is a hunk, but he ignores her. Over the next four years as she trades bobby sox for stockings, Christie finds she still wants Todd until he marries someone else.

In 1973, a divorced Todd realizes Christie is the one for him, but she rejects his advances. When her beloved Uncle Jack becomes ill, she goes to help Aunt Carly nurse him. Todd uses this time to try to re-win the heart he tossed aside when he thought she was too young for him.

This is a fascinating look at a girl becoming a woman as Lynda Fitzgerald takes readers through the major events shaping the life of her likable lead female. Thus the story line feels more like a series of vignettes in the life of Christie rather than a novel. This technique enables the audience to see deeply into what made her the adult she is, but lacks sustained action built from previous events as each occurrence is somewhat a stand alone. Fans of deep character studies of whom and what turned a teenage girl into the woman she is will appreciate Ms. Fitzgerald discerning tale.

Harriet Klausner