"My ninth-grade English teacher once assigned the class an essay on The Ideal Family. What the teacher expected, and what the other kids delivered, was Dad goes to work in a suit and tie ... Mom works part-time ...Timmy and Tammy help with recycling and do their homework .... My family life was nothing like that." Aldo Zoria, remembering.
The family lives comfortably in rural Vermont, the adults share household and parenting duties and a carefully created life. Dinners are eaten on the screened porch behind the house, conversations include the coming school year and what it means when things happen beyond our control. Their world is filled with misty evening fields, golden green hills in the distance, barn swallows and cats hoping for a handout. There are five of them, three adults and the two young children; a boy named Dom and his sister Jasmine. Marie is their mother.
Aldo Zoria, a successful edgy photographer is the careful narrator. He and Erica are married, have been married for a number of years. The adults, Marie and Aldo and Erica are portrayed as caring, respectful and intelligent. They are also lovers, a threesome, have been for a year. But change is headed their way. It arrives, as it often does, quietly and unannounced. Their peaceful existence will be forever interrupted by an unexpected guest who turns their world upside down. There will be no going back.
The author Peter Gelfan has chosen an unconventional story, he tells it well and tastefully. The writing flows swiftly, yet is economical and rather captivating. I predict readers will enjoy this up close view of a family forced to deal with their emotions and the inevitable fallout from their domestic decisions.
An advanced uncorrected reader's proof of this novel was provided by the publisher, Nortia Press, for review purposes. The words contained here are my own.
Note: A copy of this review appears on GoodReads.com
