Nancy tells Linny about the second book of the Thursday Murder Club series, THE MAN WHO DIED TWICE, that she picked up when she was in Boulder, CO. She really liked the book and how you learn more about the four characters and also see them face new challenges.
Our book this month is CATCHING STARS, written by Laura Rudacille who lives in Red Lion Pa, just about 6 miles south of where Linny lives. A mutual friend of Laura and Linny passed on the book and voila, it is this month’s book! This is a fictional book that takes place mostly in the town of Chincoteague which is a very popular vacation spot for folks in this part of PA. Linny knows two people who have vacation homes there and she am visiting one of them this weekend with other friends for some shore time fun.
Nancy visited sister island, Assateague Island, during college on a weekend camping trip. She had the amazing experience of seeing the wild ponies galloping across the beach at sunrise.
In our book, Catching Stars, Lindy Colton has little choice but to grow up fast after her abusive father walks out on her and her mother. Devoted friendships restore stability and reveal Lindy’s talent and passion for making pottery. Driven to chase big dreams, Lindy focuses on possibilities that exist beyond Chincoteague. We follow her career to New York City and beyond as she attracts the attention of Hayward Livingston, a wealthy authority in fine art. He is charming and Lindy is swept into a world of dazzling influence and alluring power. Hayward becomes more and more controlling and critical, so Lindy travels back to Chincoteague to face the unthinkable. She reconnections with her friends and finds herself-the stars she has been reaching for. Linny loves romance novels, but notes that this is less Hallmark and more Lifetime in that there is domestic violence and a lot of character growth. There is multigenerational domestic violence, the healing and growth of our main character and her mother, and enduring friendships that support Lindy.
Nancy agrees and said she thought the representation of intergenerational domestic violence. Linny said she didn’t recognize Hayward as a potential abuser immediately. Laura, very craftily, makes his character arc to one who is smart, knowledgeable, powerful, and a bit persuasive to abuser. Laura chips away at his character making it totally believable that Lindy falls for him and stays with him rather blind to the growing controlling nature his character exhibits. I think it helps the reader understand domestic violence better as well as to not blame the victims.
Nancy didn’t like Hayword immediately because he changes her name when he has just met her because he thinks it is a better name than her own for a fine artist.
Linny thinks it’s interesting that Lindy met Hayward at the same time she meets Celeste, another professional, who totally supports her. The contrast is striking. Hayword, of course, does not like Celeste and works hard to push her out of Lindy’s life. He also tries to isolate and demean Lindy.
Linny and Nancy liked the support system of friends around the main character. Lindy has a few best friends her age. But many of her friends who provide support to her are her mother’s age or older. The one man who she develops a close friendship with Cal and his wife Jane, and Kate and her husband. Lindy is so young, she doesn’t understand how to support others, or even how supportive others are of her. Linny loves Tucker, our local young who lad carries a torch for Lindy, but seems to know that she needs time to figure out herself, what love is, and to heal. Patience and love for her is almost heartbreaking. But he waits for her. He is the opposite in Haywood in that he is not domineering or insisting that she be anything other than who she is.
Linny was so glad that Lindy took the power back in ending the relationship with Hayword. She was fearful that Tucker, or Celeste or the entire group put him in his place. But this was Lindy’s battle and she needed to do it. Lindy was satisfied in that. Nancy likes that the author does not employ the old romance trope of two romantic rivals battling over a woman. Nancy feels, however, that some of Lindy’s friends, especially Celeste, could have used “I” statements to share with Lindy what they are seeing about her relationship with Hayword. Nancy also wishes the hair salon owner, Madame T, could have supported Lindy’s own vision for what she wants rather than what Hayword has instructed.
Nancy thinks it’s fun when characters in novels introduce readers to their skills. You sort of get to know more about something than you did previously. Lindy is an acclaimed potter. Nancy enjoyed the passages that describe her working at the wheel and mixing glazes and firing her pieces. Nancy took a pottery throwing class a couple years ago, which Linny had forgotten! For Nancy, that experience made it even more fun for her to read about Lindy. Linny reminisces about her experience in high school taking a lump of clay, rolling it into a snake, and building a mug!
