“Someone like You ”

written by Harriet Klausner on 04/06/2005

Someone like You
Barbara Bretton
Berkley, Jul 2005,
ISBN: 0425203883

Joely Doyle left her hometown of Idle Point, Maine to make a life for herself. Eventually she settled in Scotland where she currently lives with William and his daughter. However, though she loves her housemates, the adult relationship is drifting apart and only their adoration for the child keeps the couple together.

Her thirty-eight years older pregnant sister Cat begs Joely to come home as she needs her help since their mother, former folk singer Mimi, suffered a stroke, burned down their house, and is currently hospitalized. Reluctantly Joely returns to Maine to see her mother, a woman who has lived in a fantasy world ever since her husband deserted her three decades ago; that "realm" is where Joely feels she and her sister were raised. However, Joely begins to learn family secrets especially that of her parents; this makes the American expatriate reassess mom and reconsider her future.

This strong family drama stars three realistic females struggling with the pivotal moment in their respective lives, the abandonment of the male over thirty years ago. Readers will appreciate how that particular key event impacted the three Doyles left behind as none of them trust males and for the most part not one another too. Readers who appreciate a powerful character study that digs deep into cause and effect will want to read Barbara Bretton's fine convincing tale.

Harriet Klausner