Sleepwalking in Daylight

This is a realistic drama about a family who is struggling to communicate and stay connected to each other. The story is told through the eyes of the mother, Samantha and her teenage daughter, Cameron who are both unhappy with their situation in life.
Cameron, who was adopted by Samantha and her husband when she was two years old, has conflicting feelings and feels that she doesn’t belong in this family, or anywhere. She secretly starts to look for her birth mother.
Samantha’s marriage is passionless, her relationship with Cameron is falling apart and she is bored with being a ‘stay-at-home’ Mum. Her despair leads her to be so caught up in herself that she fails to realise the extent of her daughter’s self-destructive ways. show more
This novel is emotionally strong and will keep you wanting to know what happens next. show less

My Synopsis:

Sleepwalking in Daylight is the story of a mother and a daughter. Samantha Friedman wonders on a daily basis if this is all there is? carpools and soccer games, errands and book club meetings. Is there more to life than living with a husband who is depressed and feels absolutely nothing and a Goth daughter who can't stand her? Sam, uses her relationship with a stranger to help her escape her everyday life. Clandestine meetings at a local coffee house and secret e-mails fill her days and her mind.

Cammy Friedman feels like an outcast. Since finding out she was adopted Cammy has gotten into wearing all black clothing and white make-up. Drawing black teardrops on her jaw and messing around with a disreputable crowd. Is there show more more to life than this? Being an outcast who doesn't belong at school or at home? Cammy escapes by thinking and searching for her birth mother and by smoking reefer and popping pills.

Until one day there isn't any escape for either of them.

My Thoughts:

This book caused me to shed a tear or two, which means it accomplished it's purpose. If a book can make you feel something, if it can move you in some way. Isn't that what it's all about? When I write I want to make a difference. I want to show someone something to inform them to make them think and Elizabeth Flock certainly did that for me.

I find myself identifying with Samantha. There was a time in my life that I just felt like I was going through the motions, that life was just a succession of bad days and worse nights. My children were small and I just wanted more. I wasn't the person I always dreamed I'd be. I'm glad it didn't take a drastic situation to make me see that I had to change. But, I can see how in some people's lives that defining moment happens that way.

Cammy is such a scared little girl in a teenagers body. She just wants to be loved for who she is. I wonder what my daughter thinks about. I wonder if she'll be faced with some of the hardships Cammy had to go through. I wonder if I'm doing enough? Am I asking the right questions? How well do I know her friends? Am I really aware of what's going on in her life?

This book will make you think. It make you feel something. Whether it is desperation, sadness, even a kinship with Samantha or Cammy. You won't put this one down feeling the same way you did when you picked it up.

(This book was provided by Goldberg McDuffie for review)

I give this one 4 out 5 apples from my book bag. show less

Wow, this book left me feeling odd & out of sorts for days. Very touching and sad - a disenchanted family burdened by activities of daily life with a adopted daughter dealing with sex & drugs thrown in the mix.

Sad story and it was hard for me to relate or like the main character but the story was well written and while some parts of the plot were predictable, some important elements were not which kept me involved. I wish there was more development with the husband or that we had a chapter from his POV to understand his part in this tangled web.

Overall an enjoyable read.

If you are looking for a "feel good" story..this is not the book to read. I was pulled right into this haunting story of a disturbing mother/daughter relationship. This story was told by both the mother, Samantha and the teenage daughter, Cammie. I so wanted to feel sympathy for Cammie but it just was not there for me. Instead, Cammie made me angry and I just wanted her to change her ways. I was equally angry at Samantha. I guess as the mother she was the one to set the tone in the relationship and maybe if she was not so selfish things would be different between mom and daughter. This is a book I liked from beginning to end.

Told through the point of view of both the mother and the daughter Sleepwalking in daylight is a touching story everyone can relate to. Samantha is a stay-at-home mom who's life is an endless cycle of errands, chores and carpools. She loves her family, but she feels like she's failed with a husband who's barely ever there and a goth daughter who she barely recognizes anymore. She then takes solace in another man. All they do is drink coffee and talk, but what would happen if it became more?
Cammy feels like she was a mistake, a crack baby the Friedman's adopted when they thought they couldn't have children, then they had their twins. Cammy doesn't know what to do, she's pressured into sex and takes pills just to feel numb. But how far is show more too far?
Neither can relate to each other, but both are confused and need someone to talk to.

This book was amazing, touching, and heartbreaking. I fell in love with the characters. Even though i'm only seventeen i could sympathize extremely well with Samantha. Same thing with Cammy, we are polar opposites, but i could very easily understand what she was going through. This book is lifechanging and will haunt you for months after reading. show less

I think we all wonder if this is really our lives. At least, I know I have. So I felt like I understand Samantha when she looks around in wonder – trying to understand the world around her. She has a husband, who “feels nothing” a daughter who hates her, friends who don’t understand her, and a half-affair that she keeps on at the Starbucks, with an equally unhappy (but to me, selfish) soul.

Cammy, Samantha’s adopted daughter) is a little different story. She’s also lost, but thinks drugs and reckless sexual behavior will fix things.

I’m still trying to reach my goal of branching out on books, and this one helped me achieve that. Not the shiny happy book ending that I normally find, instead true, honest and heartbreaking. I show more felt like I understood both Cammy and Samantha’s plight (good character, development – I think!). show less