Barbara Monier

On the cover of The Rocky Orchard there is a blurb from Rick Kogan of The Chicago Tribune: “This is a very ambitious book, one that is in my head and won’t leave….A stunner…Spectacular.”

I think that’s an excellent blurb for this story, for a couple reasons. First, because that’s exactly how I felt after reading The Rocky Orchard. And second, because it doesn’t tell you anything about the story.

Some books it helps to have a preview of what the story is about, the setting, the main character, the conflict. I think this book is best read cold. At least that’s how I read it. No idea what it was going to be about (although I guessed that there would be an orchard in there somewhere.)

It is a fast-paced compelling narrative – I read it over two days, which is not my normal reading habit.

Check it out. Highly recommended.… (more)

I received this book as an early reviewer giveaway on library thing. Here is my honest review:

I do enjoy well written family dramas. The premise sounded interesting enough, and the authors credentials looked solid. Nevertheless, the book turned out to be a huge disappointment. On the plus side, it was an easy and fast read. The pros end there. I wasn't sure what this novel was trying to portray: situational comedy? drama of an underage mother? sex and the city? The plot was so convoluted I am not sure the author herself knew what she was trying to say. Family history tidbits were introduced at random and minor family characters were often mentioned without any discernible connection to the plot. I was often baffled by the authors literary choices. Why did the main character swear so much? To sound cool? It seemed at odds with her character. Honest sex talks with daughter in law? Discussing her own son's sex life with his wife????? Really? Too much time spent on insignificant details while major events (like giving birth) are completely skipped. Most characters are annoying static cardboard caricatures with an overemphasized feature not just in the final scene as the author herself points out but throughout the whole book. I could not relate to any of them. What I enjoy most in literature is "realness", whereas characters and situations feel true to life. This book was anything but real.… (more)

In her third book, the always engaging writer Barbara Monier has given us a beautifully titled and themed novel that follows Madeline, a mother still mourning the breakup of her dream family, as she tries to hold on and recreate it against the tide of a rapidly changing cast of “family” members. The novel features an innovative episodic structure that goes back and forth in time while simultaneously layering the introduction of multiple immediate and extended family members and “participants,” each with affectionately rendered but significant quirks and issues. Madeline’s maternal nature attempts time after time to herd them all into her personal formula for family happiness until Dan appears, a ringer for Madeline, who upends her definition of family and motherhood.… (more)

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review. The story follows Madeline, a divorced woman, who lives alone. She begins by trying online dating and eventually meeting Dan (he does not play a major role but he does affect those 4 months he spent with her). Madeline has a son named John & a daughter named Kate. John is married to Claire and Claire has a sister named Savannah, who gets pregnant at a young age of 15. Claire asks Madeline if Savannah can stay with her as there were problems with their mother. As the story progresses we see how Madeline's house slowly gets occupied by Savannah, newborn Dylan, Claire, Dan , and eventually Kate and John. I started reading this book last night and I immediately liked it.… (more)