JDCMustReadBooks

By Paula Treick Deboard 

ISBN: 9780778316763
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Publication Date: 10/28/2014
Format: Paperback
My Rating: 5 Stars +

A special thank you to Harlequin MIRA and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Fragile World by Paula Treick DeBoard, a powerful and emotionally charged account of a family experiencing utter despair, faced with choices, and wracked by grief, fear, and guilt; and a poignant journey to love, healing, forgiveness, and acceptance.

The Kaufman’s, a normal family in Sacramento, CA when looking in, from the outside, before the tragedy. Curtis, the father a physics teacher at the local high school. Kathleen, mother, a strong female, and highly creative, restores furniture and a buyer for antiques dealer. Daniel, a child musical prodigy, is attending college out of town on a music scholarship.

Their entire world has revolved around Daniel and his music. Olivia, at age twelve feels a little left out, as sometimes she feels as though she is a disappointment, compared to her older brother (which is often the case when there is one sibling, a prodigy with a busy schedule of lessons, deadlines, performances, and expectations). However, she worships her brother and dreads when he moves away for school.

Their safe world is forever changed when a tragedy occurs, as Daniel is killed in a tragic accident. How will they cope? Will their lives be driven by revenge or fear? As the years go by, this family falls apart, piece by piece, each one of them reacts differently in order to protect the other, going to extremes, with a lack of communication. Can they find their way back to normal, or could it be they never were normal, and will need to start a new? The choices they make will forever change the course of their lives. A journey of, “moving on” in the midst of a complicated situation.

Curtis feels he has let down his family and the only way to make amends is revenge – to destroy the monster who did this; a dark obsession with a man named Robert. He needs to hold someone accountable for his son’s death, and it is the only way he can make sense of this new world he has to live in.

Kathleen, wants to communicate, go to therapy, and stay busy, by burying herself in work, and projects, to start over and move away from this town which holds so many memories.

Olivia is struck by fear. She has to protect herself and those around her. She is afraid to leave the house, and keeps a fear journal, recording every item which causes a panic attack. “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself—Franklin D. Roosevelt. Also blenders.—Olivia Kaufman

DeBoard takes readers on an incredible and intense emotional journey. A family crumbling layer by layer; pain, hurt, guilt; a father’s plan, a witty and humorous father-daughter road trip (loved this, as I am a huge road trip fan and always makes for interesting characters along the way)--from Sacramento to the sleepy town of Oberlin, Ohio and Omaha, Nebraska (with some side trips), and a mother’s sacrifice to save her family. The parents also hold secrets of Curtis’s past which brings another side story, grandparents, and another road trip to Chicago (this time, mother-daughter). Boy, they are racking up the miles . .

The Fragile World is an intense and suspenseful, yet intriguing page-turner which keeps you hooked, dying to learn the fate of each character. The book centers around the word, “world”. The road trip takes them away from the world they knew into a new world. Olivia lives in a world of fear and isolation after the tragedy; and later breaks out of her comfort zone into a different world she never thought possible.

Kathleen moves to a new city and begins her new world with possibilities and wants desperately for her family to share with her. Talented secondary, character Luke is also living is a small town, with limited resources, yet he finds a way to utilize his creativity by designing snow globes which tell a story of different worlds and life experiences met with tragedy.

The author creates an amazing tale, and executes brilliantly, even though some reviewers do not care for the ending, and I do question as to why one parent suffers the blame; however, the story focuses on Curtis and Olivia’s POV. A realistic story, with flawed characters, and sometimes it is not all about a happy fairy tale ending, yet leaving you with hope, and promise, as this family learns to heal, accept, and overcome obstacles and tragedy. The author’s beautiful writing draws you in to the scents, smells, and vivid descriptions with raw emotions and enjoyed the breaking out the POVs alternating voices.

The one thing I was hoping for, since the front cover is depicting the snow globe – more from the character Luke, later in the book. He was such an endearing character, which will touch your heart with his little roadside stand, and his caring altruistic nature. He was able to break down the barriers with Olivia, when no one else could. I was hoping for a mention of him, possibly selling his globes in their new store, as a unique item. Possibly a later story about Olivia and Luke….

I am delighted to discover this author, as before I finished this book, I purchased The Mourning Hours and looking forward to reading. (Includes an excerpt). I enjoyed the Readers’ Guide at the end, as well as words from the author and the inspiration for the novel. Well done – highly recommend!