Shelter Me

I sank into this novel as into a featherbed, & didn't want to get up. The story covers most of the year when Janie is left with 2 young children after the untimely death of her husband. I'm surprised at how much I enjoyed Janie's anger, since I am not expressive of anger. It was refreshing to read. I loved her joking relationship with her cousin Cormac. Poor Carly seems to be just an appendage--except when Janie complains of having spent the morning keeping her from crawling up the stairs we mostly see Carly being hauled around. But this fits with the story, and Janie's belated realization of how much of Carly's life she's missed. I sort of wonder why men wanted to be around her, given her attitude. All I can figure is that she was show more exceedingly beautiful, & that men assume that all that fiery passion will carry over to bed. Not that there was much sex--we're talking Catholics here. show less

I enjoyed this. It was realistic in my eyes. I loved the characters and the way their problems and challenges were handled seemed honest and mature. No widow with small children trope.
The ending made sense too.
Recommended

Shelter Me by Juliette Fay is beyond any doubt one of the best books I’ve read in the last 10 years. This is the story of Janie LaMarche and her first year as a widow with two small children. Her emotions are raw and convincing and her anger is palpable. It sounds so easy to say I felt her pain, but I did. It was real. No matter what her loved ones did for her, there was still the absence of Robbie. No one could change that. Sometimes I wanted to shake her and tell her to straighten up, sometimes give her a big atta girl, and sometimes just wanted to sit down and have a cup of coffee with her and tell her to hang in there. Because isn’t that what we all want; just to know that someone hears you and understands you?

Juliette Fay has show more given a truly remarkable voice to her protagonist, Janie, and has allowed her to have all her emotions, all her anger, all her distrust of her family and friends. After all, they’re not nearly in as much pain as Janie and cannot know how her life has been affected. Slowly I saw Janie come to realize that she did not live in a vacuum; there were others who were affected by Robbie’s death.

The characters were all true; these were all people I have known in my former New England neighborhood. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a true to life story about anger and grief and survival, sometimes just making it from minute to minute. This is a book I will keep and read again, something I seldom ever do because there are so many books to read. But I feel connected to these characters and don’t want to let them out of my life just yet. show less

A wonderful first book, one of the best books I've read lately. Fay is an extremely accomplished writer with an amazing ability to get every word just right. Her characters are real people with whom we can sympathize, and her dialogue pulls no punches. Her writer's voice is unique and assured. More please!

Ass kicking widow? Loving mother? Betrayed daughter? Vulnerable friend?, November 16, 2008
By K. wagner "*Mitakuye Oyasin or We are All Rel... (Southwest Pa.) - See all my reviews

Yes.

All of these and more. When this book came my way as an advance copy I expected it to be an interesting and light read. It is. It is that and so much more.

Janie is a thirty something mother of two small children who lost her husband in a freak accident.
There are many ways to lose a loved one, but to lose a soulmate with no time to say good-bye has to rank as one of the most difficult.

I expected to find a story that was sad and depressing and maybe a little difficult to read. Sad was there,
betrayal, vulnerability and fear were all there. And humor. show more There is lots of humor. Hard to believe I know, considering the basic story. But difficult, no...no. I was drawn into this story, and found myself caring about the characters immediately.

Janie is strong, hurt but strong. When she was young, she simply did not believe that she would be one of those women who found true love and a happy life. But she did. She found a man who was able to "Get" her. To understand where she was coming from and to support her, love her and be a wonderful father to their children, Dylan and Carly. Her life had become so much more than she expected. Then he was gone.
A fatal decision, a moment in time and he was gone.

Suddenly a single mom who felt broken, she was carrying on as best she could. She had a wonderful supportive family behind her. Cormac, her cousin and a variety of slightly nutty but caring relatives and friends. Counseling from her priest was at first just an annoyance, but became more, much to her surprise.

Life was not through with surprising her, or testing her.

This book will land on my KEEPER shelf with the books never to give away and to read again and again.
This will be another book I will recommend and in fact give as a gift to friends. I have said before that I love stories about strong women. Women who do not let the stumbles on lifes path get them down. I love Janie and her family and friends and I know you will too. show less

I was fortunate to get an ARC of this book from Harper Collins. I was very interested in this book because I think it hit at one of my biggest fears. As a mother and wife, I can't imagine losing my husband. Janie's emotions in the story were so raw and yet so believable. I felt her pain and have often shared the same thoughts when I dare to think about "What if?" The story deals with family relationships, friendships, motherhood, anger, grief, forgiveness, fear, and love. Really anyone could relate to some portion of this book.
I loved the way the author brought in the letter writing at the homeless shelter. "Beryl" one of the homeless says to Janie "A typed letter is so cold and impersonal. It can be sent to so many people at once! show more Only a handwritten letter can convey the sense that the writer is actually with you, saying the words to you alone. When you write a letter with your own hand, you give a tiny piece of yourself" This was a great reminder for me and after just reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and how that was also completely letters written back and forth, I am even more driven to write more to those I love.
I loved Janie's journal writings as they allowed the reader to see that real raw emotions Janie was having over the death of her husband and whatever else may be bothering her that day. I just think it made her more believable and identifiable. I liked that she too, made mistakes with her kids. No one is perfect and it's ok, if you feed Rice Krispies to your kids for supper once in a while!
There were so many other parts of the story that I reflected on, cried, and laughed about. Even though the book is over 400 pages, I quickly became wrapped up in the story and hated to put it down. I believe Ms. Fay has a winner of a novel! show less

Janie LaMarche is suddenly widowed at age 38 after seven wonderful years of marriage. Her husband Robby, out riding his bike, was hit by an older driver. She has two children, Dylan, 4, and Carly, who is only 8 months old. Janie is sad, angry, and fearful. Into this house of emotional land mines comes Tug Malinowski, a 45-year-old contractor previously hired by Robby to build Janie a screened-in porch. Tug doesn’t know the man who hired him is dead; he offers to tear up the contract, but Janie decides that if Robby wanted it, she should go through with it.

But this isn’t a straight-forward predictable romance. There are a lot of other issues added to the story. Janie feels abandoned by her mother, who took off for Italy rather than show more helping Janie through this period of mourning. Janie has a twin brother Mike, but he has Asperger’s, and is not someone from whom she can get emotional sustenance. Her best friend and neighbor now has a boyfriend, and is moving away to be closer to him. Janie turns to the young parish priest, Jake, who insists on visiting her weekly, and with whom Janie gets dangerously close. Through it all, including numerous angry outbursts from Janie, Tug hangs in there, helping quietly in the background. Eventually Janie thinks there might be a path to happiness for herself, but like many people in her position, she is afraid to be happy; afraid to betray the memory of her husband, and afraid of risking more loss.

Evaluation: This is a good “women’s lit” book, with perhaps too many issues thrown in (some problems of contemporary Catholicism also come into play, such as pedophilia, celibacy, and holiday Catholics; as well as conflicts with relatives and urban crime), but then again, life is complex in just that way. The author does a good job of keeping the reader’s sympathies with Janie, despite Janie’s petulance and emotional volatility. show less