When You Went Away

19 December 2009 | Book Review

Updated, again, again, AGAIN! — OK, the (did I mention extremely patient?) web designer put up a flash version of the Shelfari bookshelf, to see if you guys can see that instead of the regular version.  Just fyi, the “reading” header is not a drop down or a link ….. there should either be a cute little image underneath of a black bookshelf, with five shelves, each with a book on it.  OR, if you can see the flash version, it should be a more “virtual” bookshelf, with two white shelves with books on them, and right and left arrows underneath so you can see additional books. 

Can you see it now?  Can you see it now?  Can you see it now?????

***********************************************************************

Updated …. again ….. to add:  Uncle!  I had no clue that so many of you couldn’t see the bookshelf.  No wonder no one has mentioned it since I put it up last month ….. no one knew!  I’d estimate 97% of you can’t see it.  Which is even weirder to me than if none of you could see it.  How come those random two or three people can, but the rest cannot?  I don’t think it’s mac vs pc …. web browser ….. ??? ….. no clue.  Well, I did what I always do when  faced with a technological challenge …. waved the white flag and sent an e-mail to the web designer who inserted the bookshelf for me.  Hopefully she’ll have more of a clue than I do.  In the meantime, thanks for the replies.  I’m glad I asked, because I wouldn’t have had any idea my latest method of sharing books was such a colossal FAIL otherwise. 

*****************************************************************

Updated to add:  How odd.  Several of you have commented you don’t see the bookshelf and book titles under the heading “Reading” on the sidebar …. but some of you do.  Quick poll ….. do you see it, yes or no?

******************************************************

A book review.

Speaking of books, before I get started, did you notice the new book feature I added to the sidebar?  Well, let me correct that.  That my “oh-she-of-never-ending-patience” web designer added to my sidebar … a Shelfari book-site.  Because I heard you, the legions of readers, who requested that I continue sharing the titles of books that I’ve read.  OK, maybe not “legions” … just “masses”.  OK, maybe not “masses”, technically, but large numbers. I mean, ok — maybe not “large numbers”, but definitely lots and lots of people.  OK, fine, TWO PEOPLEmentioned it, but that was all the begging I needed ….. Geez, whatever, so they didn’t actually BEG ….. good grief, can’t I get away with any kind of exaggeration to make myself feel better????

 Anyway, the bookshelf is on the right.  Glance at it and at least PRETEND you care for the sake of my deflated ego.

So anyway, the book at the top of the bookshelf is a debut novel by Michael Baron titled “When You Went Away”.  Someone from Mr. Baron’s publishing firm contacted me a while back and asked if I would be willing to read the book and review it on my site.  Never one to turn down a free book, I agreed.

 The official synopsis:  “In a matter of months, Gerry Rubato’s life has turned upside down.  His teen-aged daughter has run away from home, his wife has died suddenly, and he is left alone to care for his infant son.  When a woman walks into his life as a friend and their relationship verges on something more, Gerry must redefine all that he knows about himself, about love, about loyalty, and about his dreams.”

So here’s the gist of it …. I really liked the plot.  I was intrigued by the whole single-widowed-dad take on the tale, and was curious to see how the storyline about his runaway daughter would play out.  Probably because I was raising newborns myself not **too** many years ago, and also because I’m not so many years away from having an older, teenage daughter as well, I felt I could relate.  So overall, I thought it was a very interesting premise for a story.

But …. (here’s the part where I feel weird for not giving a glowing review in exchange for a free book) …. I didn’t really love the main character.  Simply put, I felt the author tried too hard with him … tried to make him so multi-dimensional, so multi-faceted, so Mr. Wonderful, that everyone would fall in love with him,  …. well ….. he was so over the top fabulous, that he kind of got on my nerves.

 From the reviews I’ve read on the web, pretty much everyone else *did* fall in love with him.   (Is it inappropriate to read other reviews of a book before you review it yourself?)  First of all, he’s a single dad to a newborn, which everyone knows is captivating.  And he’s also a widower, which adds the whole vulnerability side to it.   And he was MADLY in love with his deceased wife, which makes him loyal — also attractive.  PLUS he’s fairly high-level in his field of employment …. PLUS he’s a gourmet cook for fun …. PLUS he’s practically a professional musician …. PLUS he’s obsessed with the Yankees …. PLUS he writes long, poignant letters to his runaway daughter which he never knows if she’ll ever come home to read …..

After awhile, I just got a little tired of his sensitivity.  An example of what bothered me was this line:   ”What are you making?”  Codie called as I was preparing dinner …. “A cornmeal-crusted chicken breast which I’m topping with a little pineapple-habanero salsa.”

Really?  Wow.  That’s impressive. Because if I called some guy in real life and he told me that was what he was cooking himself for dinner, I would assume he was gay.   But this guy cooks like that, all the time, for fun.

Here’s another example …. “Ultimately, I decided we’d start with some orecchiette with artichoke hearts and that I would sear the scallops  and serve them with a simple lime butter.   There was some asparagus in the refrigerator and I roasted this and made some red rice with almonds to go on the side.  I hoped that this evenly balanced my desire to make this dinner casual with my desire to show off a bit.”

I don’t know, maybe I’m just jealous because I don’t routinely have those kinds of food laying around in my pantry ….. shoot, I don’t even know what “orecchiette” IS.  But that’s pretty much it in a nutshell …. I thought the author was showing off just a bit, trying to make his main character SO Renaissance Man, and SO appealing, and ultimately, I didn’t like the main character for it.

He is a single dad; the most wonderful dad in the world …. rarely loses patience with his son. 

Then there’s also a “I’m not sure I want to have sex … can’t we just talk and cuddle?” situation.  (It’s HIM saying that, not the girl.)    Again, gay.

Then I thought — you know what, it’s wrong of me to stereotype like that.  Aren’t there tons of widowed fathers who are gourmet cooks, who play love songs on the piano, who write heartfelt letters to their runaway daughters, and who worry about their new relationships moving too fast?  Maybe it’s not that he’s TOO sensitive, but that I’m not sensitive enough? 

I think that was the bottom line … FOR ME, the male lead character was a little too touchy-feely for my own personal comfort zone.  Loved the premise of the book, but would have preferred a “hero” who was less in touch with his feminine side.  The free bookmark that came with the book states, “Nicholas Sparks fans will rejoice … there’s a new male author on the scene who writes beautifully about love and emotionally charged relationships … “  Exactly.  I don’t particularly care for Nicholas Sparks, either.

Give me a good Outlander Jamie any day.

So, bottom line …. would I recommend this book?  Yes, if you don’t mind sensitive men and tied-up-with-a-bow-happy-endings.   Because it really is a good story.  I just hope the next book that Michael Baron writes, he throws in a little more testosterone.


115 Responses to When You Went Away

Leave a Reply