Another Review at MyShelf.Com

The Summer Kitchen
A Novel

by Karen Weinreb

     

Life today is much different than it was when I was growing up in New England and Ohio. It used to be that kids could be kids, and parents always did the right thing.  Nowadays, life has taken on a more aggressive and greedy, self-centered pattern.  This book showcases greed in its most common form.

Nora Banks has it all, or thinks she does: three beautiful little boys, a handsome and successful husband, and a home that anyone would be proud to live in.  Problem is, it’s all a lie!  Nora does not know this, however; she just lives her life the way she always has:buying whatever she wants, whenever she wants, and spending money like it grows on trees.  That is the way it has always been for the Banks family, until one cold and rainy day!

Strange men come to the door and demand that Evan Banks go with them.  They are from the FBI, and Evan has been arrested for Securities fraud.  In this day and age, that seems to be happening more and more.  Nora is devastated and embarrassed.  She was unaware that Evan was stealing money and hiding it away.  She had no idea that the life she had been living for the last few years was not even her life.  The family had no money, they had nothing left.  Her only saving grace was her home; it was in her name and the government couldn't take that away from her—not yet anyway—though they could and they did take all of the family’s belongings, cleaning out the house and leaving only mattresses and clothes behind.

It's time for Nora to do something that she has never had to do before during her married life. She has to find a job that will support her family.

While this book is fiction, it does parallel the life of the author, as she was in a very similar situation, and storytelling is her new life and her way of moving forward.  I give Karen kudos for her first book and look forward to reading the next one!

The Book

St. Martin's Press / Macmillan
July 2009
Hardcover
0312379250 / 978-0312379254
General Fiction
More at Amazon.com
Excerpt
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The Reviewer

Sandie Vega
Reviewed 2009
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© 2009 MyShelf.com