100 Pages A Day.... Stephanie's Book Reviews
  • Blog Tours
  • Historical Fiction
  • Sci Fi & Fantasy
  • Thriller & Horror
  • Non-Fiction
  • Middle Grade & Children's
  • Literary Fiction and Other Genres
  • Challenges
  • Promo's
  • Product Reviews

Remember My Beauties

5/31/2016

3 Comments

 
Picture
About Remember My Beauties
Paperback: 194 pages


Publisher: Switchgrass Books; 1 edition (April 18, 2016)

Imagine a hawk’s view of the magnificent bluegrass pastures of Kentucky horse country. Circle around the remnants of a breeding farm, four beautiful horses grazing just beyond the paddock. Inside the ramshackle house, a family is falling apart.
Hack, the patriarch breeder and trainer, is aged and blind, and his wife, Louetta, is confined by rheumatoid arthritis. Their daughter, Jewel, struggles to care for them and the horses while dealing with her own home and job—not to mention her lackluster second husband, Eddie, and Carley, her drug-addicted daughter. Many days, Jewel is only sure she loves the horses. But she holds it all together. Until her brother, Cal, shows up again. Jewel already has reason to hate Cal, and when he meets up with Carley, he throws the family into crisis—and gives Jewel reason to pick up a gun.
Every family has heartbreaks, failures, a black sheep or two. And some families end in tatters. But some stumble on the secret of survival: if the leader breaks down, others step up and step in. In this lyrical novel, when the inept, the addict, and the ex-con join to weave the family story back together, either the barn will burn to the ground or something bigger than any of them will emerge, shining with hope. Remember My Beauties grows large and wide as it reveals what may save us.
jewe


Purchase Links
Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

Review:
Jewel is trying to do it all, and believes that she is the only one who can.  Jewel works two jobs, one of which is for the county Eldercare taking care of her ailing parents, since Jewel is the only one her mother will allow to help her.  Jewel also helps her blind father take care of the horses, the only things that Jewel feels that she still loves unconditionally.  In addition to her parents, Jewel’s second husband Eddie just doesn’t seem to get what she is going through, Jewel’s daughter Carley is involved with drugs and a deadbeat boyfriend who keeps pulling her down, Eddie’s daughter Chastity is anything but her name suggests and Eddie’s son, Rocky is going to come live with them despite Eddie paying child support.   The tip of the iceberg however is when Jewel’s mother tells Jewel that her brother Cal will be staying with them.  Jewel can’t forgive Cal for a past indiscretion and when he shows up and does something else unforgivable, Jewel quits Eldercare and leaves everyone to figure it out on their own.  She just can’t stay away from the horses though, knowing that they won’t be getting the best care. 

An emotional tale of family, horses and forgiveness.  This is not only a story of a rollercoaster of family dynamics, but how the non-human members of our family can affect us.  I loved that every character in this story was very real and flawed; they held grudges, made mistakes, had vices and addictions and gave up hope.  However, when things really mattered they came together and made things work.  Most of the story is told from Jewel’s point of view, and I do sympathize a lot with her situation; the feeling that you are the only one who can do something and everything will fall apart without you.  There are also points of view from almost every other character in the story, which got a little confusing when they switched, but I figured it out.  The best point of view for me, as a horse lover was definitely the horses themselves!  This really highlighted the horse and human relationship and tied everything together in a unique way.  A great read for anyone who loves horses or for the sandwich generation who is trying to do it all.
 
This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 


Picture
About Lynne HugoLynne Hugo has published ten previous books, including poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Her memoir, Where the Trail Grows Faint, won the River Teeth Literary Nonfiction Book Prize in 2004, and her sixth novel, A Matter of Mercy, was awarded an Independent Publisher silver medal for best regional fiction in 2014. The recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, she lives in Ohio with her husband and their yellow Labrador retriev
Connect with LynneWebsite | Facebook | Twitter

3 Comments
Runwright link
6/1/2016 04:57:54 am

I enjoyed reading your review. I have a similar experience in my role at my volunteer position - that I am the only one who can do things. It's almost amusing something forces me to step back or step away and I realize the show goes on whether or not I am involved.
You can see my review at: https://runwright.net/2016/05/31/remember-my-beauties
I liked the horses point of view too.
I'll be following your blog for more of your reviews. I hope you'll like my page enough to do the same 😀

Reply
Lynne Hugo link
6/1/2016 09:21:17 pm

Thank you so much for this insightful and thoughtful review of Remember My Beauties. I'm delighted that you go so much out of the book and that its themes resonated with you. Thanks again!

Reply
Heather J @ TLC Book Tours link
6/3/2016 09:45:32 pm

My parents are in that sandwich generation and it is SO hard. I'm sure this book would really hit home for them.

Thanks for being a part of the tour.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Follow at Bloglovin!

    Author

    Hi there! I'm Stephanie and I obviously love reading.  As, the title suggests, I read at least one hundred pages a day.  I enjoy most book genres; however, my favorites are historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, thriller, horror and YA.  I also read a lot of non-fiction science and gardening books for my occupation.  I enjoy reviewing books and as always, any book that I receive for free is read in return for my honest review.  

    ​https://share.simonandschuster.com/stephanierhildreth

    Archives

    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013

    Picture
    Challenge Participant
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Reading Addiction Blog Tours
    Xpresso Book Tours
    b00k r3vi3w Tours
    - See more at: http://b00kr3vi3wtours.blogspot.com/p/collect-badges.html#sthash.R4DGlIHF.dpuf

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Picture
    Pump Up Your Book

    This website uses marketing and tracking technologies. Opting out of this will opt you out of all cookies, except for those needed to run the website. Note that some products may not work as well without tracking cookies.

    Opt Out of Cookies
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.