Before I start my review I want you to know that I was not ask to review this book. I am doing this on my own free will. I love to read. I also love to share great books that others may not know about. I am pretty much an avid reader. Books are my vacation. The book I am sharing is a book that I normally would not read but the title grabbed me. So I decided to check it out. It is great to expand my horizon and read different types of books. I never want to box myself in and not look outside. This book I was able to purchase with Viggle points as well I think I redeemed 20,000 points for a $5 Barnes and Noble gift card. This book was right in my range.
The name of the book is called The Edge Of The Sky by Drusilla Campbell. It is the story of Lana, Michelle (Micki), and Beth Porter. Lana They are trying to adjust to life without their Husband and Dad. Lana and Jack had been married for twenty years before he tragically lost his life in a car accident. In that 20 years they had two children. Micki who they adopted and unbeknownst to them at the time they were signing the final papers for Micki’s adoption Lana was 3 months pregnant with their daughter Beth who came along 9 months later. They were family unit. They all had their roles. The girls went to school and Jack was more the hands on parent while Lana filled in where she was needed. She was a great mom but there were some things that Jack could handle better than she could. When he died Lana and the girls had to adjust to their new reality. All of them are dealing with their grief in different ways. Lana is putting on a happy façade and going through the motions of life while wishing she could have her husband back again. She is trying to deal with the grief, her new role as a single parent to her two teenage daughters, and being sole owner to the business that they ran together. She has to rebuild her relationship with her daughters because when her husband first died she couldn’t bring herself to get out of bed for weeks until her friend Wendy told her she had to. Since then she has been trying to force herself to deal with her new reality. She also has to figure out how to gain her daughters’ forgiveness for spreading Jack’s ashes alone. On top of dealing with other issues such as protecting her sister from her controlling husband and the fact that Micki’s birth father has shown back up. She has to realize that although Jack isn’t there he is there in spirit and that she has the strength to be a great mother and be a new her.
Since telling a friend that she was adopted in 5th grade and the friend not only told everyone in class but then started a rumor that she was adopted because was wrong with her Micki has been trying to fit in at school. That was why it was so important to her to become a member of this exclusive group at her school called The Fives. She felt like if she became a member of the group that she would belong somewhere and not feel like such an outcast. In dealing with her dad’s death she feels incomplete. She doesn’t feel like she had the proper chance to grieve since her mom took her dad’s ashes and spread them out over Garnet Peak alone without telling her or her sister she was going to do it .Then she is also trying to figure out her relationship with her birth father. A man who up until the moment her mom invited him into their home one night when Micki ran away was basically following her around town. and watching her. She feels that her mom and her sister don’t miss her dad that as much as she does. He was the person that she would go to talk to when she was having problems. He would always find some way to make her feel better. She feels that her mom is to busy pretending instead of paying attention to what’s going on with her sister and her. Especially her sister Beth who is changing drastically. She has to learn to forgive her mother, define the relationship with her birth father, learn that she doesn’t have to fit into the in-crowd to fit in, and accept that her dad will always be with her.
Beth blames herself for her Dad’s death because the night he was killed his was on his way home to go on a father/daughter date with her. She wants her dad back like her sister and mother. He was a very important part of her life. She too use to go to her dad for advice. She is now doing things to try to forget that her dad is gone like hanging out with the wrong crowd, smoking marijuana, and quitting sports such as basketball. She has a friend that she hangs out with because she feels sorry for her because her mom lives in L.A. and her sister lives with her boyfriend. The girl is basically living all along. She also hangs out with the girl because the girl provides her with drugs and other things that she thinks will help her forget about her troubles. She too thinks that her mom and sister don’t miss her dad as much as she does. She is also kind of jealous because Micki’s birth father has shown up in her life. She thinks that Micki will forget about the father who was there for the first 15 years of her life and replace him with a guy who wasn’t there at all. She also is upset with her mom for not allowing her to say a proper good bye to their dad.
They have to learn to cope not alone but together and become a new family while still trying to keep the memory of their Father/ Husband alive. Get past the obstacles in their way and see that they are all 3 grieving and miss Jack. That life goes on but he will never be forgotten. They have to learn to come together. Which they eventually do but they have to deal with their own emotions before they can help each other.
I really enjoyed this book. I didn’t think I was going to like it at first because it was so sad. I didn’t want to really think about death but then again I was interested in seeing how they dealt with it and how they came through it. Besides I had already spent money on it technically. In the end I found myself really enjoying the book. The girls really gave Lana a run for her money. But she figures things out and finds ways to help herself and her daughters. It was definitely a interesting read. I can’t imagine life without The Husband. I honestly don’t know what I would do. I know I will survive but at the same time I probably wouldn’t want to. This book shows the strength that this family had even though they were going through tough times. Would I read this book again I don’t think so but I would read another title written by Ms. Campbell. There is no sex in this book but there is mild language here and there. I would totally suggest this book to read.
It sounds like a really good book! I like reading the sad ones. I definitely could not imagine life without my husband raising our two teenage daughters.
Yes it was a tough but great read.