Earlier this year, I reviewed a book called “Almost Sisters,” the story of three women who meet at Brigham Young University’s Education Week. They come from different backgrounds, but as they spend the week together, they become fast friends. Inspired by the woman who boarded them for the week, they determined that they would hang in there and learn everything they needed to know to become “crusty old broads,” women who have weathered life’s storms and come out the better.
Today’s book is “Three Tickets to Peoria,” which is the second installment in this trilogy. We find that Deenie, Juneau and Erin are still plugging away at their dreams of becoming “crusty old broads,” but at times their challenges are so difficult, they aren’t sure they’ll be able to keep moving forward with faith.
Juneau has been taking a writing class and makes friends with a sympathetic soul named Clyde. He listens when she talks, offers sage advice, and really seems to “get” her. He’s the shoulder to cry on that her husband has long since ceased to be. Meanwhile, her daughter has given birth and no longer wants her child, so Juneau takes him in to raise, only to lose a piece of her heart when her daughter changes her mind and takes him back.
Deenie’s motivation in life is to help other people, and when the idea is presented that she and her huge dog should take training courses and be part of the area’s K-9 unit for Search and Rescue, she only hesitates for a little while. It’s the perfect therapy to help her move past the nervous breakdown she had when her baby was born, but when a man tries to take her life and her training kicks in, she’s grateful for her skills for a multitude of reasons.
Erin’s journey through this book was heart-wrenching. She and her husband Cory have grown apart and barely communicate any more, and when she finally confronts him and makes him talk, he tells her that he’s gay. He’s fought the feelings for years and hoped that getting married would help, but the feelings just won’t go away. She’s thrown for a loop as everything she’s imagined about their relationship goes up in smoke.
I like these three characters a lot, but I did wish that segments of their story were told with more detail. This series is a trilogy, but I think it easily could have been made into a five, or even six, book series so we could have really gotten into the experiences of the characters. When Deenie went into the psyche ward after her breakdown, I wanted to know more about that. I wanted to see more between Juneau and Clyde. I wanted to know more about Erin’s relationship with her children during her divorce. It’s impossible to fit everything you want to say into just three books, and I know the authors were frustrated at their constraints, but I was a little frustrated too, wanting more.
But, that means I really liked the characters and felt a connection with them, and that’s the main goal of any novel. When the reader comes away feeling as though they know the characters, it’s a success.
Stay tuned for my review of “Surprise Packages,” the third book in “The Company of Good Women” series, which will appear at the end of August.
(This book was published in 2007 by Deseret Book.)
Related Blogs:
Anderson, Littke and Morris: Part One
Anderson, Littke and Morris: Part Two