When She Flew by Jennie Shortridge

Release date: 2009 / 322 pages

Synopsis (from front cover): Police officer Jessica Villareal has always played by the book and tried to do the right thing: She’s worked hard at her job and even harder at her family. Despite all that, she finds herself approaching midlife divorced, estranged from her daughter, alone… and completely unhappy. And she’s wondering if she ever made a right choice in her life. But then Jess discovers an Iraq vet and his young daughter living off the radar in the Oregon woods, avoiding the comforts — and curses — of modern life…

First line: “The baby clothes drew Jess first, even though her grandson was now turning three.”

Review:

When I finish a novel and my first thought is “What else has this person written and how soon can I get my hands on it?” I know I’ve found a winner…

As always, I avoided reading the plot summary before I began this latest gift from TLC Tours, so my first impressions were based on this quote on the cover from Marisa de los Santos (who I love):  “Taut, beautifully rendered.”  I focused on those two words as clues: taut… rendered.  Knowing that de los Santos is truly a poet at heart, I loved that she chose the word “rendered” — meaning intentionally well-crafted.  “Taut” made me a bit nervous — murder mystery perhaps?  Psychological thriller maybe?  Well, When She Flew is both taut (even without a murder) and rendered in such a way that I knew I would be reading Shortridge’s other works… soon.

The plot of the novel is based on a true event of a father and daughter found living in the woods near Portland in 2004. The father was a Vietnam veteran, raising his daughter outside the normalcy of society; when discovered, the daughter was quite “well-adjusted” despite her unusual living arrangements. From this news story, Shortridge creates a narrative that alternates between the perspective of the “fugitive” teenager and the 38 year-old police officer who, in finding and eventually helping the father and daughter, finds a certain redemption from her own parenting mistakes. Alternating points of view can be tricky — we’ve all read stories where we’ve impatiently wanted to return to one character or another — yet Shortridge creates (renders) such three-dimensional characters that I never regretted leaving one for the other.

Jess’s pain resonated deeply — what woman hasn’t questioned her choices, particularly where relationships are concerned?  And after spending 15 years with adolescents, I can confidently state that Lindy’s young voice rings true as well. In addition, I loved peeking into the life of a police officer, especially a female officer. Any time an author can humanize a segment of society that is frequently stereotyped or misunderstood — like “vagrants,” “police officers,” or “veterans” — I’m interested.  Beyond the masterful characterization, the plot is very fast-paced and this novel will make short work of an afternoon, since the prose is so effortless and the story gripping and suspenseful.

So, if you are interested in a “taut, beautifully rendered” story about relationships, society, and identity, leave me a comment! Graciously, Shortridge has offered an additional copy — so I’ll be choosing two winners this week!

Curious about what others thought? Here’s the full list of tour stops!

First, past reviews…

• Thursday, December 3rd: The 3 R’s Blog: Reading, ‘Riting, and Randomness
• Monday, December 7th: Linus’ Blanket
• Tuesday, December 8th: Book, Line, and Sinker
• Wednesday, December 9th: Luxury Reading
• Thursday, December 10th: The Literate Housewife Review
• Friday, December 11th: Redlady’s Reading Room
• Monday, December 14th: Book Addiction
• Tuesday, December 15th: Hey, Lady! What’cha Readin’?
• Wednesday, December 16th: A Novel Menagerie

and upcoming reviews, too!

• Monday, December 21st: Entertainment Realm
• Tuesday, December 22nd: Dolce Bellezza
• Monday, December 28th: Book Chatter
• Tuesday, December 29th: Caribousmom
• Wednesday, December 30th: Presenting Lenore
• Monday, January 4th: The Brain Lair

Welcome back!