A tumultuous family drama in which characters contend with the legacies of the past, troubles of the present, and uncertainties of the future. Goodwin'sdebut novel opens with a young boycoming downstairs to find his mother, who's apparently involved in the drug trade, dead by suicide. The novel then jumps forward several decades; the boy, Robert Lovelace, is now a retired postal worker with three children. Robert mourns the death of his adoptive mother, Big Mama; worries about his children; and harbors a secret. The novel is divided into short chapters, which mostly follow Robert and his three kids: Angela Lovelace, who works as an emergency-response social worker; Sharyn Lovelace Sanders, struggling with her marriage and trying to conceive; and Kevon Lovelace, a college student experimenting with self-sabotage through alcoholism and infidelity. Goodwin has a knack for weaving the characters' storylines together, often emphasizing the similarities between them. Angela stumbles upon the novel's greatest mystery while answering an emergency call: At an apartment where a woman has overdosed, Angela sees a photo of her father on the wall. She soon investigates the connection between her dad and the troubled woman. The aptly titled novel promises to reveal what Robert hasn't told his family--information that he keeps in the "distant area of his heart--the space no one was supposed to see or touch, where all his secrets had taken residence." Goodwin easily wrings plenty of drama, humor, and emotion for interactions between the various players. However, the prose often stumbles with figurative language, as when Robert considers his ex-wife: "She was like a log crackling in the fireplace; standing close produced warmth, but too close, fire." Still, the author effectively keeps readers interested by bouncing from character to character--all the while, enumerating the triumphs and strife of a single family. A mostly successful novel about lives that are neither easy nor ordinary.
COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. (Online Review)
November 1, 2019
Angela Lovelace excels in her career as a social worker, but she is thrown by the tragic overdose of a young mother who left behind a young son and, most puzzlingly, a picture of Angela's father. There is a lot the Lovelace family cannot talk about, which becomes clear as first-novelist Goodwin switches perspectives among patriarch Robert, struggling with his retirement; sister Sharyn, whose husband refuses to address their heartbreaking infertility; and youngest Kevon, who self-medicates with alcohol. Though each narrator is given equal page time, Angela is the heart of the story as she chases answers to her father's involvement with her case and tries unsuccessfully to be as patient as the Reverend Broussard wants her to be when there are other men willing to treat her right. Though each character faces a crisis of faith, religion is what ties this proud Black family together. Ultimately, it is faith, along with professional therapy, that saves them. Wonderfully realistic dialogue and relatably fallible characters mark Goodwin's debut for readers who appreciate Vanessa Davis Griggs and Kimberla Lawson Roby.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)