Life is a labyrinth -- isn't it? You enter at point A and
make your way through each twist and turn and hopefully end
up at point B feeling quite proud of your journey. Ro and
Marcus Skews move to the country with their young son Tod in
tow. Nothing very remarkable about that except that they are
city people through and through. Ro is reluctant, to say the
least, about uprooting herself from the city and starting
over in a rather odd little house badly in need of repair.
But she reminds herself that Tod could benefit from the move
and a new beginning so she starts on the road to becoming
country. Small towns are full of interesting characters and
Chetsley is no exception. Characters also run in both Ro and
Marcus's extended families so there is no lack for zany
relatives. Marcus is busy with work and away for much of the
time so we spend a great deal of time learning the ropes
along with Ro and Tod. Their lives seem so simple in the
beginning with just the usual family issues but then you
begin to read between the lines. Lives are never simple.
The narration is done through a running dialogue which is
oft times self deprecating and frequently very funny. It
took awhile to get familiar with British slang but once
mastered the narrative flowed very well. Gibson did a good
job of developing characters that begin to matter to the
reader. Ro becomes a treasured friend and Tod is a little
boy that you just want to protect. Tod's fascination with
mazes is carefully intertwined with the story of their
family and with his development into an imaginative, well
adjusted child. At times what Gibson doesn't say is more
important then what she does. She paints a rather vivid
picture for the reader but doesn't necessarily color
everything in -- some parts are left to the reader to fill
in. She gives her reader credit for having an active
imagination. Even vital characters are described by their
personalities and oddities more then physical attributes.
The reader can identify with Gibson's characters -- they are
probably just like people they have met while traversing
their life's mazes.
Ghastly new home. Potentially adulterous husband... Not
quite the fresh start in the country she was promised.
A fixer-upper in the sticks was the last place city girl Ro
Skews expected to live. But her husband, Marcus, wants it --
and all the arguments are on his side, namely a better life
for Tod, their wonderboy, who has developed social problems
in London. Of course, the five-year-old has never been the
most... conventional child.
While Ro (grudgingly) makes a life for herself in stuffy
Chetsley (if you can count reaping the whirlwind of floor
sanding and playing Suburban Lawn Warfare with her sexy
neighbor as a life), Marcus starts spending more nights in
the city with his cell phone switched off. And Tod, whose
fascination with mazes seems to have blossomed into a
full-blown obsession, treads the worrying line between
eccentric and problematic.
Ro searches for the right path in a few mazes of her own --
her marriage, motherhood, country customs -- but when she
unearths a shattering secret, more than one truth is
revealed and Ro is left wondering: Is the country any place
to raise a family?
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