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The Breakdown Lane

The Breakdown Lane 1

by Jacquelyn Mitchard
Paperback
Publication Date: 01/10/2009
3/5 Rating 1 Review

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From the New York Times bestselling author of The Deep End of the Ocean and Twelve Times Blessed comes a novel of the breakdown of a family and of healing after a loss

Giving advice is what Julianne Ambrose Gillis does for a living--every Sunday she doles it out to clueless people she doesn't know, in a column in her local Wisconsin paper. But when it comes to her personal life, Julie seems to have no insight whatsoever. She has worked hard to keep her marriage fresh and to be a good mother, so it's a mystery when Leo, her husband of twenty years, decides to defect from their life together and their three children: Gabe, Caroline and Aury.

In his absence, Julie is diagnosed with a serious illness, which drives her children to undertake a dangerous journey to find Leo--before it's too late. But what they discover about their father is even more devastating than their mother's deteriorating health.

As the known world sinks precariously from view and leaves them all adrift, the Gillis clan must navigate their way through the trenches of love, guilt and betrayal, back to solid ground and a new definition of family.
ISBN:
9780061374524
9780061374524
Category:
Contemporary fiction
Format:
Paperback
Publication Date:
01-10-2009
Publisher:
HarperCollins Publishers Inc
Country of origin:
United States
Pages:
416
Dimensions (mm):
198x132x33mm
Weight:
0.39kg
Jacquelyn Mitchard

Jacquelyn Mitchard is a journalist and award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of twelve novels for adults, seven novels for teenagers, and five children's books.

These include The Deep End of the Ocean, the inaugural selection of the Oprah Winfrey Book Club, as well as two non-fiction books, including Mother Less Child: The Love Story of a Family. She is also a professor of creative writing whose short stories, articles, essays and book reviews have been widely published.

A native of Chicago, she now lives on Cape Cod with her family.

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1 Review

A story from two sides of some terrible tragedies that unfortunately coexist. Julie has MS, and her marriage is falling apart. Alas, she doesn't realise either of these things until its far too late.

I struggled with the idea of Gabe writing a journal, from his mothers perspective, whilst some sort of savant, I didn't get the impression that he was able to write such verbose monologues. However the tale of his search for his father was one of the stronger chapters in the book, so I do have to say I enjoyed his tale as much as Julies.

Leo/Leon is the dude you wish would befall some horrible fate. He abandons his family and their "things" and runs off to some communes, in order to satisfy his mid life crisis. He hears his wife is unwell, and doesn't give a damn. Leaves them all high and dry. A very easy character to dislike from the get go, because you know he's going to be trouble.

It got a little drawn out in places and yes, the ending was a little disappointing, however you can say that she did deserve a little bit of redemption, and that it could be the best thing for her, but yes, its too convenient.

I wanted Cat to be more responsible and have that mother daughter tension resolved, I felt that it was just left hanging a little bit.

Overall it was enjoyable, although a little slow to get to the meaty parts.

Contains Spoilers No
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