Ella counts as her blessings her wonderful husband, two animated kids and an extended family who regard her as one of their own. Yet when her soulmate Joe tragically drowns, her life is turned upside down without warning, and she finds that the luck, which she had thought would last forever, has run out. When Joe’s beautiful ex-wife, who deserted their children three years earlier, arrives at the funeral, Ella fears the worst. And she may well be right to. Ella discovers she must struggle with her own grief, while battling to remain with the children and the life which she loves. Questioning her own role as a mother, and trying to do what is right, all she is sure of is that she needs her family to make it through each day. Yet when pushed to the limits of love, Ella must decide whether she is, after all, the best mother for her children.
'The writing in The Underside of Joy is as purely beautiful as the story is emotionally complex. When Ella Beene is wrenched from a state of unexamined happiness into confusion and grief, she finds that her only hope of emerging whole is to face searing and long-buried truths. Ella embarks on a difficult journey, both morally and materially, one that requires her to risk losing everything she most loves. I cheered (sometimes through tears) her every step.' Marisa de los Santos 'Halverson's prose is graceful, beguiling and resonant with emotion--and she poses some difficult questions regarding the nature of family. A fabulous book club choice!' Jennie Tuner-Collins, Joseph-Beth Booksellers
Title: The underside of joy
Subtitle:
Contributors:
By (author)
Sere Prince Halverson
ISBN 13: 9780007438907
ISBN 10: 0007438907
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Imprint: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Publication Date: 1/02/2012
Place of Publication:
London,
United Kingdom
Edition:
BIC Subjects:
Modern fiction
NBS Classification: General & Literary Fiction
Format: Paperback
Height: 234mm
Width: 153mm