Little Island

Little Island by Katherine Britton

"Does anyone get the future they dream of?".......

Joy ponders these words as she drives aimlessly to the scenic family-owned inn on Little Island off the coast of Maine for her grandmother's funeral service. Everyone will be there. Her parents, Grace and Gar and the twins, Roger and Tamar. Maybe her sister can even muster the courage to bring her twin girls, Natalie and Haley. Mother-of-the-year she is not. But then Joy realizes she must look into her own soul, too. Now that her son has left for college, Joy knows she has lost her own identity. How sad and pathetic is she, leaving her husband behind, and engaging in loathing self-destructive behavior. And why or why would her mother choose this weekend? Twenty years ago a tragic automobile accident claimed the life of Joy's best friend. It also shattered the lives of their entire family because Roger was behind the wheel in a drunken stupor. So now they will gather to celebrate the last wishes of a grandmother who led a life of unbelievable sacrifice while the ghosts of their past lie in wait for them.

This story has many intersecting sub-plots that the author manages to describe in detail. The touching moments when Grace finally discovers the truth about a mother who protected her from harm, the bond between twins that Joy will never penetrate, resentments, rivalries and secrets hidden for so many years; when they finally erupt, can a dysfunctional family such as the Littles weather the storm?  The reader meets a loving group of people who live in a fog both figuratively and literally.  Unable to see one another for their strengths and weaknesses, they will also fight dense, dangerous fog off the coast to save innocent lives of children who prefer to escape from a family they don't understand. Perhaps in that harrowing moment they are all rescued from the sins of long ago.

It may take the reader a few chapters to sort out these memorable characters and alternate between past and present. Once you do, I think you will enjoy an easy read with unexpected surprises. Joy and her mid-life crisis, Tamar's realization that bitterness,deceit, and regret have defined her, Roger, coming to terms with his past and hope for his future;  Grace embracing her heritage; ordinary people overcoming fears and believing in a dream......