"A book that makes you think"
Life should get easier when children grow up and leave
the nest. Fiftyish divorcee Ruth Ann Moon expects to enjoy
solitude in her North Carolina home, but that is not the
case. The family matriarch eighty-two year old Marvelle no
longer can care for herself so either Ruth Ann or her obese
sister Cassandra has to take the elderly woman into their
home. Ruth Ann's teenage and pregnant daughter Ashley has
just left rehab and returns to the nest. Ruth Ann wants the best for her family, but feels like
the inside of a sandwich squeezed from the two generations
above and below her. She needs space, but even in rural
Carolina, Ruth Ann finds her family pressuring her.
Cassandra adds to the problem because she desires to leave
but lacks the courage to go. She also dumps on Ruth Ann,
who sees a future of death, despair, and dependency. Though set in western North Carolina, MOON WOMEN
describes the problems facing the baby boomers as the
generation prepares for retirement. Ruth Ann deals with
elder care and teenage pregnancy and addiction problems
among other issues. The story line uses too much
colloquial speech that provides a regional flavor but at
times the vernacular slows down the plot. With the
exception of Cassandra, the three generations of females
are all powerhouses though the bread generations are
struggling with life and the middle generation confronts
dilemmas caused by the outer twosome. Pamela Duncan takes
a deep look at the dawning of the end of the Age of
Aquarius crowd. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted August 3, 2001
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