Story Description:
HarperCollins|April
15, 2013|Trade Paperback|ISBN: 978-0-06-221176-7
When fireman Jimmy
McMullen is killed in the line of duty, his wife, Jackie, and ten-year-old son,
Charlie, are devastated. Trusting the
healing power of family, Jackie decides to return to her childhood home on
Sullivans Island – a place of lush green grasslands, the heady pungency of
Lowcountry Pluff mud, and palmetto fronds swaying in gentle ocean winds.
Thrilled to have
her family back, matriarch Annie Britt promises to make their visit
perfect. Over the years, Jackie and
Annie, like all mothers and daughters, have had differences of opinion. But her estranged and wise husband, Buster,
and her best friend, Deb, are sure to keep Annie in line. She’s also got the flirtatious widowed physician
next door to keep her distracted.
Captivated by the island’s natural charms, mother, daughter, and
grandson will share a memorable, illuminating summer.
My Review:
Jackie McMullen was an army nurse stationed in Afghanistan for a seven-month tour when her husband, Jimmy was killed. He was fireman for the city of New York and fell through the floor when it collapsed in a filthy, rat-infested tenement on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Jackie swore that Jimmy couldn’t be too far away because she could “feel him, watching over me, over us.” They were very much in love and Jackie was devastated.
Their 10-year-old
son, Charlie, was depressed and had idolized his Dad. Jimmy took Charlie everywhere on his days
off, they spent a lot of quality time together and losing his father was like
losing a part of himself. Charlie’s
despair was a huge concern for Jackie, no matter what she said or did, didn’t
seem to bring him around. Charlie was
truly traumatized.
It was Jimmy’s
Aunt Maureen who made Jackie realize that something had to be done. Aunt Maureen was unmarried and in her
sixties, and she was Charlie’s secondary caregiver when Jackie went
overseas.
Jackie’s Mom and
Dad were living apart and had been for eleven years. Jackie’s Mom, Annie, came and stayed for a
couple of weeks to help out and then returned home. Once she was gone, Buster, Jackie’s Dad
came. He worked his “grandfatherly magic
on Charlie,” and for a little while it seemed he was perking up. Buster took him to Museum of Natural History
one day and on another to the Yogi Berra Museum, where Yogi Berra himself
happened to be that afternoon. “He
signed a ball for Charlie that he carried around with him wherever he went.”
After Buster
returned home, Charlie’s depression returned.
Jackie felt so sad and helpless, there was so little she could do for
him. So, right after the Fourth of July,
Jackie decided to head south to Sullivans Island where her parents and other
family and friends lived. Jackie was
putting her trust in the healing power of family. However, it won’t be an easy visit for Jackie
as she and her mother have had differences of opinion for years. She is hoping that her Dad and her Mom’s best
friend, Deb will help keep Annie in line and she’s got the flirtatious widowed physician
next door to keep her distracted as well.
Porch Lights celebrates the joys and
boundaries of families and storytelling.
I’ll definitely be recommending this one.
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