When Life Gives You Lemons… Or Hot Cross Buns

lemonsMaybe it’s because I’m not a huge fan of lemonade, but I really hate that particular saying. It gives the impression that no matter what life throws your way, you can take it and turn it into a sunny day picnic. In an effort to say this nicely, I think that’s a big load of bull. Yes, I agree, we all have to put on our big girl panties in certain situations, but it doesn’t mean we have to pretend all is well.

For the record, I had no idea I was asking us to end this week’s reading on such a cliffhanger! I would love to take credit for brilliantly planning that out, but I was just as anxious as all of you must have been when it ended in such a devastating way.

The Husband’s Secret has been so heavily rooted in the unexpected turns of life, the characters in those situations, and how they choose to handle those twists and turns. As we finish out the final weeks of reading this book together, I wanted to honor a few of the amazingly written and very complicated characters and how they have evolved as life has thrown them some big, fat lemons.

Cecilia – Where do I begin? There are so many things about Cecilia I like. The problem I have with her is all the smoke and mirrors. The Cecilia who says what she feels inside her head and confronts John-Paul’s clearly overbearing mother is compelling. Unfortunately, few, if any people know that Cecilia. I have wondered for the last few chapters if all the twists and turns will force the real Cecilia to show herself. If the events of the last chapter don’t cause that to happen, she’ll always be a shell of the person she really is.

Tess – I can already see where this is going, and I must say, I’m not looking forward to it. The whole scene with Tess and Felicity in her room sitting on the bed talking had so much symbolism. I could imagine the many conversations over their adolescent years with the two of them in that same exact position talking about things that seemed so important at the time. If they only knew one day that they would have a conversation about Tess’ marriage falling apart and Felicity’s role in that. I keep hoping that in the last few chapters, Tess won’t go back to someone who settles. I like it when characters learn from their situations, and I hope I get rewarded as a reader by getting to see her growth. I fear that I won’t.

Rachel – I’m going to go ahead and say this. I find Rachel to be selfish. Look, I can’t even begin to put myself in her shoes. Losing a child would be devastating, and I can’t imagine anyone truly ever gets over it. Where I struggle with Rachel is that she allowed her grief to strip away everything else good in her life. She was so consumed that she essentially lost two kids that day – Janie and Rob. As the story has developed, I became less sympathetic to her as a character, and I can’t fathom she will get over the events of the accident that ended our reading this week.

As soon as I’m done with this post, I plan to read the rest of the book because I need to know what happens. Is sweet little Polly really dead? Are Tess and Will getting back together after everything? Ugh, I still dislike him so much! How will all these characters be impacted by this terrible accident that was brought on by so many bad decisions? What were your thoughts on these last chapters? Did you feel that Chapter 50 was a brilliantly woven together as much as I did? More importantly, did you crave hot cross buns the whole time you were reading?

We have one more week until the end of our first book. I have said it so many times before but thank you for following along! It has truly been a blast for me!

Book Giveaway!

I mentioned in a previous post that I published my first fiction novel, Sweetly Broken, at the end of last year. As a thank you for following along, I’ll be giving away five copies of that book. It’s an E-Book, so you must have a Nook or Kindle (or the apps) to receive it. How do you win? Be one of the first five people to comment on this week’s post, and I’ll gift you a copy to the device of your choice!

Christie Pettus
Christie Pettus is a full time working wife and mother living her suburban cul de sac dream in Orange Park, Fl. She is Mom to two awesome teenagers, McKenzie and Ethan, who have come to accept that certain parts of their lives will be blogged about, so they should act accordingly. As graduates of the University of Florida, she and her husband Ryan can be found rooting on their alma mater every chance they get including the more obscure sports. LaCrosse anyone? When she’s not judging her kids' questionable teenage choices, she can be found hiding in a room buried in a good book or writing, editing, and dreaming about being a full-time author.

10 COMMENTS

  1. You do a great job sharing the essence of the book. Your biography is impressive and I love your children just reading about them. Sitting on the bed talking with a girlfriend is a lifetime happening. My childhood friends and I still join in each other’s homes sitting on beds listening and sharing our family memories or life experiences. It is especially fun because this is not a frequent thing as we all live in different cities. But, your analysis reminded me when we do gather together – about every five years- for whatever reason we end up in that most informal and personal space. I think it is a comfort to have shared childhood, teen years, college, marriages, etc and now the last third of life. You can tell I am an older admirer of your group. And admire, I do!

  2. I totally agree with you about Rachel. It was difficult to continue to feel empathy for her, she shut down on her son who still needed her. Although I have no experience (thankfully!) I would hope I would continue to try to be a a good mom to my living child.

  3. I am with you on Rachel and Tess. I’m so frustrated thinking that she’s going back to Will and settling. As for Rachel, I just feel so sad for the way she treats Rob and his wife. And her relationship with her grandson sounds a little obsessive to me.

  4. Sorry, I couldn’t wait I had to finish the book, but I must say I truly have enjoyed reading this book and can’t wait to see what book will be chosen for our second book ! 🙂

  5. It’s kind of like Rachel is making up for Janie with her grandson. I wish she would care for her living child. I guess not knowing what happened to Janie doesn’t bring closure so that doesn’t help her at all. I agree with you on Cecilia. She’s like the perfect housewife. You keep waiting for the REAL her to emerge!!

  6. So I didn’t think I was going to be joining this book club because I just don’t have/make time to do any pleasure reading. But I had a long flight last weekend and totally finished the whole book! Sorry. But thanks for suggesting such a great read! Maybe I’ll join in on the next book and actually read along with everyone!

  7. We have our first five! Look out for an email from me over the next couple of days to get the details on where I can gift your books!

  8. Christie, I believe I made a similar comment about Rachel (couldn’t remember her name at the time) back in the ‘In Sickness & in Health’ blog — though not nearly as well written as yours. I felt terrible for saying it—mostly b/c I didn’t think anyone else felt that way, but it was for the exact same reasons you so eloquently described. I also agree w/ your comment about Tess & learning from mistakes etc , but I believe people are creatures of habit and change can be scarey- and when there is a child involved there are a lot of other factors involved. Hope I never have to find out what I would do in that situation! By the way, Donna Tarte book that I mentioned (for the next book) is in the New York Times online book update from 2/14.

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