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"Keep your face toward the sunshine—
and the shadows will fall behind you."
~ Walt Whitman
This is a captivating family story that takes place in the 1970s and delves into subjects so many of us will be able to relate to, such as young love, parenthood, illness, accidents, trauma, LGBTIQA children, family conflicts, and divorce. Her character descriptions are crisp and vivid. Eleanor, the mother and main character loses her parents at an early age, and successfully manages to raise three wonderful children. Her escape was making children's books. She loved to draw. "Something happened when she drew. She left the world for a while and stepped into a new one." This is exactly how I feel when I'm working on a writing project.
Intertwined with the plot, Maynard carefully interjects many words of wisdom for the reader to ponder such as: "A parent could no more protect her children from sorrow and loss than she could keep the sun from setting or rising again the next day."
She reminded me of my favorite Hawaiian prayer: Ho'oponopono which means: I'm sorry. I love you. Thank you. Please forgive me."
 by Joyce Maynard (novel) This book was released a few months ago and recommended by a dear friend. Only after purchasing this book did I realize that it was a continuation of Count the Ways. The book follows the family from 2010 until 2024, and Maynard craftfully mixes some current events and politics into this fictional story. Maynard wisely states: "There can be no repairing the old mistakes. All a person could hope for was to do better in the future," and "When you can't fix a problem, the best thing you can do is learn to live with it." Maynard is now one of my new favorite writers. The last time I heard her name spoken about was the story about when she was 19, and had a short (11-month) relationship with J.D. Salinger which she claims has changed and affected her entire life. Both these books are page turners (and I'm a slow reader) which I read in less than two weekends! Writing Prompts!
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