Synopsis:
Everyone has had a moment — or several — when they contemplated running away from home: just turning one’s back on everyone and everything, and disappearing for a while or even forever. But then the dream ends, reality intrudes, and we carry on, honoring our commitments to ourselves and those people who matter to us. We acknowledged that our life isn’t really horrible, focus on our blessings and formulate a plan to work through whatever was troubling us.
Not Sarah Beth Riley. She actually did it, except she didn’t depart from her home. She waited until she was in New York City with her best friend, Rachel, sitting down to lunch. Pretending to go to the ladies’ room, she arranged for the maitre d’ to deliver a note to Rachel ten minutes after her departure.
Devastated, confused, and sick with worry, Rachel finds herself alone in New York City instead of celebrating their fortieth birthdays, as she and Sarah Beth had planned. Worse, Sarah Beth beseeched her to refrain from contacting Tom, her husband of twenty years, who is at home with their three children, Jennifer, Katherine, and little Owen.
As Rachel stumbles about in a daze, she seeks assistance from NYPD officer, Michael, who urges her to report Sarah Beth’s disappearance to the authorities, but emphasizes that since Sarah Beth authored the note indicating that she left the restaurant voluntarily, foul play will not be suspected and no investigation commenced, at least for awhile. Michael reassures Rachel, urging her to carry on with the birthday celebration on her own. Perhaps Sarah Beth will decide to meet her at one of their scheduled destinations.
Sarah Beth places the life she has built on the line, in desperate need of time alone to think, reflect, and decide what she wants her future to look like, because she knows only one thing for sure: she is neither happy nor fulfilled. But will the risk pay off? How will her act of walking away from her life, even temporarily, impact her relationships with those she loves?
Review:
Meanwhile, Rachel is both furious and frightened. After all, Sarah Beth’s stunt is completely out of character, although once Rachel considers the recent past, she realizes that there were signs of Sarah Beth’s unhappiness. Still . . . nobody just abandons their best friend during a celebratory weekend that has been planned for ages. Worse, Rachel’s loyalty and dedication are severely tested when Sarah Beth asks that she not contact Tom, Sarah Beth’s attorney husband — which was Rachel’s first instinct, of course. Rachel wonders whether she can honor that request and, if so, for how long. Sarah Beth promises that she will return, but Rachel is not sure if she can or should believe that.
That unbelievable circumstance leads Rachel to Michael, a handsome forty-four-year-old native New Yorker who is patrolling Manhattan atop his trusted mare, Maggie. Michael is instantly beguiled by Rachel and goes far beyond the call of duty to calm and assist her, finding himself increasingly drawn to her as the hours pass and Sarah Beth remains missing.
From the outset, Rachel is the more likable of the two lead female characters. Widowed a year earlier when her husband, Carl, suffered a massive heart attack, Rachel has survived the loss and resumed living, something that Sarah Beth seems incapable of accomplishing. Rachel is extremely close to her only daughter, Ashley, who is about to head off to college. Although it has been difficult for Rachel because she and Carl had a strong marriage, she has become a substitute fifth-grade teacher and continued sketching as a hobby. She is talented and grounded, unlike Sarah Beth who, DeMaio reveals, is still reeling from the sudden loss of her mother as a result of a brain aneurysm.
Many readers will initially find Sarah Beth self-centered and self-indulgent. What kind of friend leaves someone they care about sitting in a restaurant and disappears? DeMaio skillfully reveals, with the action alternating in subsequent chapters between Rachel’s experiences and those of Sarah Beth, a woman on the verge of emotional collapse. Sarah Beth is not unkind, but she is overwhelmed by the demands of her husband, — theirs is a thoroughly conventional, traditional marriage — the needs of her two daughters, and the unplanned pregnancy that left her and Tom beginning to parent all over again with little Owen when she was thirty-eight years old and thought she was done with all that entails. Worse, she and her mother had planned to open an antiques store when Sarah Beth turned forty, but Owen’s birth and her mother’s death derailed that dream. Sarah Beth is mired in the routines and obligations of domesticity. In the throes of an emotional meltdown, she has begun sending emails to her dead mother, professing her confusion, grief, and sense of helplessness. DeMaio’s compassionate, nonjudgmental portrayal of Sarah Beth gradually humanizes her and turns her into an empathetic character. Aspects of Sarah Beth’s distress are highly relatable, including her questioning what her life might have been like had she chosen differently when she was young and accepted her French boyfriend’s invitation to live with him in Europe, pursuing a life filled with art and adventure.
Michael has endured his own troubles and is grappling with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, as well as the aftermath of divorce and the challenges of parenting a teenage daughter. Both he and his relationship with Rachel are endearing and their story has an air of authenticity that elevates the story through DeMaio inclusion of a likable and strong male character who is also coping with loss and grief. Tom is equally compelling, particularly because he is earnest and well-meaning, but thoroughly confused by his wife’s behavior. He gradually evolves from making demands and issuing ultimatums out of fear and frustration to understanding the depth of Sarah Beth’s despair, proving that he truly loves and is committed to her as he battles to hold his family together.
Although Whole Latte Life strains credulity at the outset, DeMaio wins readers over with believable dialogue and even pacing. As Rachel and Sarah Beth’s friendship hangs in the balance, so do the women’s relationships with the men in their lives. The two women have always been able to talk about anything, but Sarah Beth’s behavior threatens their strong bond and, to DeMaio’s credit, she does not subject their friendship to a quick fix. By making the women work to regain their strong friendship, DeMaio lends further credence to her story about the search for meaning in one’s life, grief’s capacity to cripple one who is vulnerable, and the inherent need to feel connected to and appreciated by those with whom we spend our lives. It is a story worth reading when in a “what if . . .?” mood because DeMaio competently demonstrates how a chance meeting, a turn of events, an unexpected circumstance can change the course of one’s life in remarkable fashion, as well as how many blessings are gained through adversity. Whole Latte Life is a promising debut that bodes well for DeMaio’s future as an author of the kinds of tales about the resiliency and importance of female friendships that women, in particular, find relevant and poignant.
30 Comments
Luckily, I have never felt that way. But I can see how it certainly may happen to some people. This book sounds very intriguing.
What a great review for this captivating novel.
A fascinating story which I would enjoy.
I can remember a time when I wanted to run away from a job or two, but never from my family or my life. π
This story sounds like a page-turner. Very original idea – and of course – as a book cover lover – I have to mention the cover art is fabulous!
i don’t recall feeling that way…thanks for the chance to read this inspirational book π
Calming down and counting my blessings. Makes me stay at home.
I do right now, in fact. I’m taking care of my mother who is in the throes of dementia and I can’t just run away but oh, how I would love to.
yes, I am in that situation now. Never before has this thought occurred but now for sure. an illness and serious obligations.
I would have always said this would never happen but sometimes in life things become overwhelming as they are now.
Wow- yes, I do feel that way off and on with two kids who are growing up and learning to push each others buttons. I do not leave because their father or his family are not there and I could not imagine them growing up in foster care- so I stay.
Sure there are moments when I would love to run away from it all , but I would never leave my husband and kids.
There have definitely been those moments when it sounds like a good idea but I have never seriously considered it since all bad things will pass.
I haven’t felt that way. Sounds like a good book.
Sounds like a very good book.
No, thankfully I have never felt that way. I feel sorry for people who get so overwhelmed and wish I could offer help.
I have never felt that way that I remember. Thanks for the chance to win!
Your review is beautifully done. I loved this book! I was truly able to empathize with the characters and loved that they were flawed in struggles we all have.
Yes and the thing that kept me from not doing so is my three daughters.
No, even as bad as things get sometimes I have never felt like running away.
Hi Janie~ I want to let you know that I appreciate your thoughtful review. As a writer, it’s rewarding to see my novel provoke thought and engage dialogue, as it’s done so well here at Colloquium. Thanks so much.
No matter where one is, life is hard. But family makes it easier.
Yes I have. Sometimes I just wanted to keep driving & hope I ended up somewhere I didn’t have any responsibility but taking care of myself. What stopped me? Better the devil you know.
I recently reviewed this book and agree that most readers will not be sympathetic to Sarah Beth. Overall, the book was enjoyable and I’m very glad I read it.
Several times I have wanted to just fill up the car and drive until I run out of gas and that is where I would stay for awhile but then I think of my family and devide not to. Gale
There are times when I feel overwhelmed and want to get away, but never run away. That is because when I am most stressed often I turn to my family for support. They don’t even have to say anything, their presense soothes me.
Yes, I have felt like running away. What stopped me was thinking about my family. Love to read this book. Thanks for having this giveaway.
ayancey(at)dishmail(dot)net
I have felt that way but I love my family too much to actually do it.
Sounds like a really interesting book.
Oops, posting a second comment, as I wasn’t able to see the blog post question until I commented so I have to answer the question now.
I don’t think I ever felt so overwhelmed that I would want to run away, but I have felt very sad, alone and lost at times.
I have come close I think but I could never leave my kids. No matter how tempting running away sounds.