The Rainbow Reader Welcomes Special
Guest Reviewer
MICHELLE BROOKS
Fellow Lesfic Aficionado and Humorist-In-Training
Fellow Lesfic Aficionado and Humorist-In-Training
Book: Strangers
Author: DeJay
Publisher: Regal Crest Enterprises
I have never embraced the phrase “put on your thinking cap.”
Maybe it’s because
I grew up in a household where my mother routinely took poetic license when
quoting idioms, choosing to spout such gems as “A watched pot never burns”,
“Backyard driver” and “From your mouth to God’s eyes.”
While I don't share my mother’s proclivity for mangling idioms, I do
share her love of shoes and as much as it pains me to admit, a few of her
character traits as well. I chose never to have children, not the two legged
kind anyway. I share my home and my heart with my two amazing dogs Lyric and
her son Mickey and my quirky cat Bailey, who routinely attempts to defy gravity
with limited success.
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| A "Controlled" Experiment ? Krakatoa it ain't! |
My maternal instincts are satisfied by my work with children diagnosed
with autism spectrum disorders and time playing with my furry, four-legged
kids. Any additional need for things of a maternal nature are satisfied by
afternoons spent with the twins of a close friend--which usually happens when she decides that my house is better suited for things like building a working paper mâché volcano
which belches raspberry preserves at irregular intervals with greater
intensity than anticipated.
Suffice it to say, this was a school project and I had to call the
Principal and humbly request that the twins be excused from detention. I took
full responsibility for the faulty timing device and offered to pay his dry
cleaning bill. As it would have been counterproductive (and a wee bit passive
aggressive), I did not point out to Herr Principal that he had failed to
maintain the minimum required distance from the volcano during the twin’s
demonstration.
For the record, the
kids got an “A," but I was banned from attending the school bake sale.
In Dejay’s newest book, Strangers,
Justina Murphy, or Murphy as she prefers to be called, is the hard working
owner of the Splash and Dash carwash.
Her world is turned upside down when DCS worker Victoria “Vicki”
Wainwright makes an unexpected visit with the unfortunate news that Murphy’s
sister has recently passed away.
In addition, she tells Murphy that her deceased sister listed her as the
next of kin for her two nieces, fifteen-year-old Jessica and twelve year old
Brianna. Murphy is a highly independent woman who hasn’t had any contact
with her family in thirty years. She doesn’t feel qualified, nor does she have
the desire to take on the responsibility of raising two children. Her own
childhood had been marked by years of abuse at the hands of her mother, who
kicked her to the curb at age thirteen after learning her daughter was gay.
Murphy endured several years as a homeless youth living on the streets, but
with hard work and dogged determination, has managed to carve out a successful
life. She owns a successful business and is single-minded in her focus, placing
all of her time and energy into her work, leaving little room for pleasure, let
alone children. Murphy now finds herself facing mounting pressure from Vicki to
assume the role of caretaker, a role that is not only incongruent with the life
she has created for herself, but also one which terrifies her.
While plagued with anxiety about disrupting her previously well
organized life and uncertain if she is equipped to handle the daily
responsibilities associated with caring for two children, Murphy eventually
relents and assumes custody of Jessica and Brianna. The threesome navigates
their way through an emotional obstacle course on the road to developing as a
family unit. En route, Murphy faces demons from her past, and when new
information is unearthed regarding a 30-year-old suicide, decades old wounds
are re-opened. As Murphy’s attraction to Vicki grows, she begins to realize
that she is not the only one who has been harboring secrets. Murphy and Vicki
are each forced to examine the thick, protective armor they have each developed
and determine if it has outlived its purpose. Both women must decide if the
benefits outweigh the risks, and if it is indeed safe to love and be loved.
Strangers could have easily
gone the way of countless movies on Lifetime,
with Dejay taking the easy road, counting on clichéd images of Little Orphan Annie, complete with an
equally bedraggled canine companion. Just as easily, she could have relied on
overly graphic descriptions to broach the topics of homelessness and abuse, doing
so in such a way that the reader would have been sent plunging into the depths
of an icy bath of anguish, sputtering and struggling to catch their breath.
She could have,
but she didn’t.
Instead, DeJay chose to forge a different path. I applaud the author’s
decision to flex her considerable skills as a talented wordsmith, carefully
crafting a story that develops slowly and grows in intensity with each passing
chapter. In doing so, Dejay deftly circumvents a path strewn with feelings of
pity and instead, allows the reader to empathize with the characters and
celebrate their transformative growth as the storyline progresses.
As I read any new book, my level
of enjoyment is impacted by how the storyline is introduced, and it’s evolution
with regards to pacing and believability, character development and the overall
writing style. The writing in Strangers is crisp and clean, with a touch of
mystery and romance intertwined in such a way that it enhances the storyline
and the powerful message the book clearly communicates. Dejay’s
characterization of Murphy, Vicki, Jessica and Rachel were all well developed.
Secondary characters were included appropriately, nicely rounding out the cast
and serving to add additional depth to the storyline.
This is the part
where the reviewer takes a deep breath, a swig of her now cold coffee and
exhales before continuing.
I’m not an author, I’m a reader. Therefore I will not even begin to try
and comprehend the arduous task that an author undertakes when writing a book.
That being said, I am an avid reader, one who easily plows through several
books in a week. I appreciate the amount of time that authors spend doing
research before even starting to write a book. Some books require the author to
complete considerable in-depth research in order to create a plausible
storyline—Strangers is one such book.
It is quite evident that Dejay spent quite a bit of time researching both the
topics of homelessness and abuse. However, her treatment of the relationship
between Murphy and Fran, a Psychiatrist, troubled me. Fran is repeatedly
referred to as Murphy’s friend and therapist. At one point, Murphy
states, “Fran is an old friend, we’ve known each other twenty years, but more
to the point, she is my therapist.” I am a mental health professional, and this
statement raised a red flag for me in that it revealed the presence of a dual
relationship.
A dual
relationship is one in which the therapist maintains two roles with an
individual, such as friend and therapist.
Such relationships are frowned upon in the profession and in some cases,
they are a violation of the professional code of ethics to which all mental
health professionals must subscribe. It was the treatment of the relationship
between Murphy and Fran that slightly marred for me an otherwise superbly written book.
I will admit that due to the subject matter, this is not a book I might
have chosen to read had Salem not asked if I’d be interested penning a review.
I will also admit that Salem’s choice clearly indicates that she is far wiser
than I am (her unquestionable lack of taste with regards to gnawing on spurious
vegetables notwithstanding). Seriously, I have joked with Salem about starting
a self help group whose goal would be to help readers like myself recover from
tendonitis resulting from the repeated tapping of the Remove From Device button
on their Kindle—this ailment being the consequence of reading yet another book
that had the depth of a petri dish, and rendered feelings of satisfaction equal
to a meal of three gummy worms with a side of Tic Tacs.
That being said, I am deliriously happy to report that my Remove From Device trigger finger did not twitch even once during the course of reading
this book. Dejay’s Strangers is not
your usual fare, but don’t let the difficult subject matter lead you to pass by this
book. It’s far from the typical tale of homelessness and abuse that leaves
you heavy hearted; rather, it is a beautifully told story that reminds us that
our past does not always dictate our future, and that the scars we bear serve as
testament to the fact that we are stronger than that which strives to destroy
us.
