Montpelier Tomorrow is an emotionally charged,
heart-wrenching story that grabs you like a riptide and drags you along through
the everyday life of Colleen Gallagher, a mom in her mid-50s who was widowed in
her 20s as she was expecting her third child. As the story opens, she is
working toward retirement. But life takes a turn when she visits her adult
daughter, Sandy when her second baby is due. That’s when Colleen learns that
her son-in-law, Tony, has been diagnosed with ALS. None of them really understands
the impact of what this will mean to their future, but it doesn’t take long for
the fatal disease to start to steal Tony’s abilities to function.
About the Book Montpelier Tomorrow
Author Marylee MacDonald does an excellent job not only
capturing the details of juggling Colleen’s role as a mom, grandma, and Mrs.
fix-it around the house, as well as donning the hat as the cook, but also
follows her into her new role as the caregiver of her son-in-law who is not
easy to get along with. She captures the raw emotions that rock their everyday
world where all the usual chores, repairs, diaper changing, childcare, etc.
still clamber for attention, but Tony’s care takes on first place. Feeding him
a single meal takes hours, showering him requires a feat of strength, just
getting him out of the house to transport him is a challenge. Colleen meets
each challenge while her daughter continues to work to keep their medical
insurance. Amid it all, MacDonald captures the raw emotional roller coaster of
negative emotions like hopelessness, depression, feelings of alienation, and
the loss of control as she steps away from her job as a kindergarten teacher
for a semester. Problems sleeping exacerbate the situation as the family faces
the heartbreaking truth that ALS will take Tony’s life.
Book Review: Montpelier Tomorrow
While this is not a happily-ever-after read, it is an
emotionally engaging read, filled with flawed characters, and it reminds you
that even a mother’s love can’t fix everything. The inclusion of small sensory
details places the reader right there, seeing everything that’s happening,
hearing the sounds, and smelling the aromas, scents, and odors of her
environment. I loved MacDonald’s writing style and I recommend this book to
people who enjoy Women's Literary Fiction that touches the heart, those who have been affected by
ALS, and for caregivers currently caring for someone suffering from a
devastating disease. I’m happy to give this book 5 stars.
* * *
As BookHookup, I am a longtime book reviewer, and I received
The Hired Hand as a free review copy from BookTasters and have not been
compensated for reviewing or recommending it. Some links in this post are
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About Author Marylee MacDonald
Marylee MacDonald grew up in Redwood City, California,
married her high school sweetheart, and worked as a carpenter in California and
Illinois. When she's not writing, she's hiking in the red rocks of Sedona,
walking on a California beach, or plucking snails from her tomatoes.
Her short stories have won the Jeanne Leiby Chapbook Award,
the Barry Hannah Prize, the Ron Rash Award, the Matt Clark Prize, and the
American Literary Review Fiction Award. Her short story collection, BONDS OF
LOVE AND BLOOD, was a Foreword Reviews' INDIEFAB Finalist, and her novel,
MONTPELIER TOMORROW, was a Gold Medal winnerhttps://maryleemacdonald.com in the Readers' Favorites annual
book awards. Her most recent short story collection, BODY LANGUAGE, contains
stories about the resilience of the human spirit. To help writers who haven't
been able to find an agent, she wrote THE BIG BOOK OF SMALL PRESSES AND
INDEPENDENT PUBLISHERS.
She currently splits her time between Tempe, Arizona, where
her husband is a professor, and Santa Rosa, California, where she tries to stay
out of the way of fires.
Find out more at: https://maryleemacdonald.com
