Monday, April 25, 2022

Book Review: Standards and Duty by Louise Hazeldine


     When my best friend asked me to take care of her daughter if something ever happened to her and her husband of course I agreed. How could I not? Besides, I loved that little girl as if she were my own. But when Felicity Brimley-Smith ends their life I have a choice to make. Leave my everything to go back to my ex-boyfriend and friend to raise the baby together or ignore the promise I had made years before. What would you choose?

    I purchased this book at the suggestion of the author. I can't say I loved this book. In fact, I spent a great deal of the book actively hating Mimi. Everyone has their own parenting styles and this book has a lot more religion then I care to read. To each their own on that front. This is the third catholic oriented book I have read in as many years and I can't find much to enjoy about those aspects of the books. 

    I will say that this book is well-written and moves you to tears at more than one occasion. Initially I thought her a fool for leaving the way she did. Then once her decision was made and they were seemingly happy I accepted that role in the book. If your happy then that's all that matters. After disaster struck she made her choice and I again began questioning her. Why go through all that just to MARRY someone you don't love? 

    Maybe because this book is set in the 70s/80s it's something I can't understand fully. I wasn't born until the mid 90s so having to be married for both parties to adopt seems a bit much. That and this was set in England and I can't say I'm privy to their policies. I couldn't imagine leaving the man I love to marry and raise a child with my friend who is also my ex. I have someone that fits the bill and he's a good man, but I couldn't imagine marrying him and raising a child with him. He'd be a great father, don't get me wrong, but the spark long since died on my end of that relationship. Much like in Michael's case, not on his end, which is an occasional rubbing point on our friendship.

    I'm trying to choose my words carefully here so as not to give too much away. I will say that the young woman that the baby in question grew up to be reacted in much the way I expected when she read the email Mimi sent her. I'm proud of her for it. Mimi's ultimate choice was also very expected and I am surprised that the book didn't have an Epilogue. 

    Alright, I've complained enough about this. Time for the good points. I've already stated that it's well-written and will move you to emotion. These are both valid points, but the author makes you feel for the characters. Each of them. Annoyance, frustration, argumentative, sadness, happiness all of it. It is rare to feel something for all the characters in a book instead of just one or two so the fact that the author is able to inspire pity into even a background character like the grandfather of the young woman is something that should go unnoted. 

    Places were also descriptive and while the book was told in first person I still walked away from it knowing the primary characters names. It was easy to see the events of this story play out as you read along the pages. 

    This book is available on Amazon for $3.99 by clicking here. This book is available on Kindle Unlimited. 

No comments:

Post a Comment