Perfect Little Worlds by Clifford Mae Henderson

Perfect Little Worlds by Clifford Mae Henderson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


*I received this book from Bold Strokes Books and Netgalley for an honest review*

This is the fifth book I’ve read by this author, one of the five I’ve read twice. Every single one of these books are oddball books that defy classification. All but one of which I’ve rated highly (2 of the 5, or 3 of the six counting rereads are marked 5 stars on Goodreads, two are marked 4 stars, and 1 is marked 3 stars). All of the books involve some bit of traveling, though I can’t really use this as a link – none of them are really what I’d call travel fiction. Several of them, three of the five if you count a prelife story, involve dealing with life – death or prelife. But enough of this rambling.

What’s this specific odd ball book about, then? A woman of 79, living in Santa Cruz California, talks into a recording device. Telling a tale that’s mostly directed to events before, during, and slightly after a specific event that occurred in 1989. 26 years ago – when she was 53 (her actual age of 53 was never given, but her age of 79 was given, the fact that she tells the story in 2015 is given, and the fact that the story she tells is mostly focused on events in 1989 lead me to an age of 53).

What specific event occurred in 1989 that she relates? Why, that’d be the time she got a call from the neighbor of her mother and sister. The neighbor indicated that there might be an issue. After a bit of back and forth, Lucy, who – in 1989 when she got the call – was/is living in Portland Oregon at the time, must attempt to help her mother and sister living in Santa Cruz California. So she does – heading down for a visit. Only to find that her mother is in horrible shape – and doesn’t have a clue who Lucy is; her mind is mostly gone. Not completely, she spends her time bouncing from on time to another, but mostly watching television, and occasionally frantically getting ready for guests to arrive (not that any guests are going to be arriving). Alice, the sister, seems somewhat stressed but also mostly handling things. There’s a little back and forth about why Alice didn’t say what was going on, whereupon Lucy realizes that Alice did, in her way, say that things were deteriorating. Mentally, for the mother.

While attempting to figure out what to do about the situation, the sisters are trapped underground during and shortly after an earthquake hit – a 7.1 one that hit October 17 1989, the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake (which, for whatever reason, I see Google calls a 6.9 earthquake, but whatever, it’s 7.1 in the book).

And that’s basically what the book is about. A daughter finds out her mother has mentally deteriorated, and her autistic sister is coping as best she can. Bits and pieces of other parts of the characters’ lives get mentioned – like stuff that occurred in 2015, and stuff that occurred before 1989; and stuff that occurred between 1989 and 2015. In terms of romance – there . . . the beginning stages of a romance is shown, but the book ended before anything of the relationship’s development was shown (though, since the book is actually set in 2015, not in 1989 – as in a woman of 79, in 2015, is thinking/talking about, recording the story of her life events that occurred in 1989, then the ‘what happened next’ is known by the reader, ‘what happened next’ in terms of the very brief glimpse of romance, I mean).

This is a rather sad story. I’m sure there were happy moments in Lucy’s life, but she’s examining a sad portion of her life (albeit one tied up with, presumably, a happier time – i.e. her relationship with another woman), during a period of time when she’s basically alone in the world.

I’m not really sure what all I can say about the book. I’m sure I’ve both under and over revealed stuff as it is. The book is listed as ‘General Fiction’, not ‘mystery/romance/historical/etc.’ I can’t put anything in here that reveals my feelings on the mystery/romance/etc. angle. Historically? Well, it is set in 1989, and there were some neat bits that were shown there. 1989 is too close to today, though, to call the book ‘historical fiction’. So I’m back to ‘General Fiction’. Which doesn’t give me a hook to ramble about. There’s no mystery to solve, no crime to watch unfold, no humorous caper, no ghosts to mingle with, no . . . easy hook to pin words on. It’s a ‘reflecting on life by an old woman’ type of book.

I liked the book well enough. I’ve no clue if anyone else would or wouldn’t. One of the problems with odd ball books is that it is hard to recommend or not recommend a book that falls into this category.

Rating: 4.28

May 19 2018



View all my reviews