Twelve Times Blessed

A real mystery: This book is completely mystifying to me! How is it possible that the talented novelist who wrote "Deep End of the Ocean" could write this story, which is very well written in a literary sense, but features a protagonist, True Dickenson, who has no admirable or endearing qualities whatsoever? And how is it possible that this talented author could write a book in which there are so many sentences or references that make no sense at all? I spent probably a total of one hour during my reading of this book, leafing back through previous pages, thinking, this makes no sense to me, I must have missed something?... and never finding an explanation... For example, early in the first chapter, True is musing about how it has taken show more her decades to come to terms with her name, which she says is True Harte Dickenson, and that this is her real name is confirmed later in the story. But within a few pages, her friends are calling her "Truly Fair," which they continue to call her throughout the book, with no explanation.
The immaturity of the heroine is also mystifying. True is a 43-year old woman. She is on a hiking trip with a man that she has been having sex with, and her period starts unexpectedly. She cannot bring herself to tell him this until they are back in their hotel room and he wants to have sex with her. She then cannot even manage to say any words explaining the situation, she just gestures toward her pelvis. And she is too shy to go out and find a tampon - her now-fiance has to do it for her. She has been menstruating for 30 years, and she is too embarrassed to buy tampons? How is this possible?
And how is it possible that this extremely emotionally immature person has such a devoted group of friends? How did she ever manage to make 2.5 million dollars if she is so incapable of relating in an honest, direct way with even her closest friends and family? She lies constantly to her son, even when he asks her direct questions when he suspects the truth. She marries a man whom she has known for less than two months, while her son is out of town, then she seems to be blindsided by his fury when he finds out the truth. She allows her mother to open and read her mail on a regular basis, and apparently has never voiced any objection to this. She is so incapable of resolving conflict with her husband that she suggests that they sing to each other instead of arguing whenever they find themselves fighting. On several occasions, she abruptly changes the subject when her son or husband try to discuss something that she's uncomfortable with. She's stubborn, controlling, self-absorbed, and incapable of seeing things from her husband's point of view. When she is separated from her husband for several months during her pregnancy, she wants to reconcile with him but never even approaches him to express her feelings.
She has been outrageously successful with a business that involves sending the most stupid, useless baby gifts for grandparents who are too lazy to buy gifts themselves.
I kept reading and reading, hoping and expecting that the reason the author was depicting such an immature grown woman was to show us some growth during the course of the story, but it never happened! What is the point of this novel?
And there are so many elements of the plot that are completely implausible. The mother intercepts and hides all of Hank's letters asking True to reconcile during their separation, so True never received his correspondence - okay. But Hank and True were face-to-face at least twice during this time - why wouldn't they speak to each other, especially since she was pregnant with his baby? Speaking of which, she made an arrangement with her friend to attend the birth, and never had any discussion with Hank about whether he should attend the birth? And when the son is hospitalized with a ruptured appendix, over Christmas, True cannot contact Hank to let him know. He was off on a skiing trip - okay. But it was Christmas, and he is very close to his family, and she speaks to his family, so why wouldn't his family be the intermediaries to put him in touch with Guy in the hospital?
By the end, I was sorry that I wasted so many hours on this novel - there was nothing noble or admirable in any of the characters. They all behaved like helpless, selfish wimps!
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After reading The Deep End of the Ocean, I have set a high standard for Jacquelyn Mitchard. Unfortunately, this book feel far short of that standard.

The heroine of the book, True, is a very successful woman raising a son and running a very profitable business. Her husband died many years ago and she has crafted a family for herself from the competent employees she surrounds herself with as well as her mother who lives in her guest house. The introduction of a much younger man into her small town complicates her life and she finds herself caught up in a whirlwind romance with him which leads to a very sudden marriage.

The problems? True never believes herself worthy of Hank. She is jealous to an extreme and constantly belittling herself. show more I don't know why Hank stayed with her more than a week. I knew I was supposed to be rooting for them to have a happy, long life together but True convinced me she didn't deserve happiness either. show less

I have a tough time downgrading one of Mitchard's books, because I generally really like her writing. Her characters are well drawn, but you just want to slap a couple of them 'upside the head!! Our heroine is swept off her feet by a younger man that falls for her hard and fast, but the problems they have are not unexpected. PLUS, he absolutely should have known that what he did was unforgiveable, and he absolutely did not deserve another chance. Loved the characters. Loved the idea of the business she was running. The story itself? Not so much.

The story line lacks the originality and insight into character that is usually seen in Mitchard's books, especially The Deep End of the Ocean and The Most Wanted, and to that extent, Twelve Times Blessed didn't live up to expectations. It's pretty much a standard love the second time round story, except that the protagonist is a good bit older than the new love, resulting in too predictable rocky steps on the relationship pathway. Its strengths, if it has any, are more in the secondary character cameos than in the main cast, especially in members of the lover's Southern family, and how they are perceived by the Cape Cod Northerners. Not nearly as engaging of the reader as Mitchard's earlier books, not quite formula driven but at times show more perilously close. A pleasant but forgettable read is probably a reasonable assessment. Definitely below Mitchard's usual standard. show less

I have enjoyed Mitchard's previous books, and was surprised to find this book did continue with her earlier promise as an author. I thought the characters were not believable, which makes it difficult to care what happens to them. There simply is no depth to this book. I never quite understood the reasons why True and Hank separated. Their utter self absorption was wearying at best and the plot was too thin to hold my interest. It was an effort to keep reading.

I really wanted to like this book because I've liked other of Mitchard's books, but it just seemed to keep going round and round in the same circles and not going anywhere until the last 75 pages or so.

Divorcee and son find happiness with a new man in their lives. Struggling relationship gets kind of old.