What happens when two mothers battle each other for a chance
to claim and raise two young children? One is certainly the
biological parent, but does biological equal mommy? The
other has raised the children from a young age and the
children already see her as a mother. Ella had settled into
married life quite happily. She never suspected the birth
mother would show up so unexpectedly. When Joe, Ella's
husband, dies, Ella is left to uncover the many secrets on
his family's side. The book takes off from the point where
Ella realizes Paige is intent upon taking her children back.
This story somewhat mimics the typical Disney "evil
stepmother" plotline to a point. However, there are so many
layers to both Paige and Ella that plotline will be
challenged. Ella seems more realistic, the safer choice
while Paige is more of a wild card. The children are much
too young to make a decision so it is left to the courts and
the emotional dramas of the warring mothers.
A reader can look forward to mystery tinged with romance,
action, intrigue, and almost a Gossip Girl type of plot.
This book will be very difficult to put down. The ending,
unfortunately, was a little predictable, but the book itself
contained many twists and curveballs. There is a rich
Italian history embedded in the novel as well, another facet
to this novel that the reader will love. Overall, THE
UNDERSIDE OF JOY is a book that should be placed on a to-
read list.
Set against the backdrop of Redwood forests and shimmering
vineyards, Seré Prince Halverson's compelling debut tells
the story of two women, bound by an unspeakable loss, who
each claims to be the mother of the same two children.
To Ella Beene, happiness means living in the northern
California river town of Elbow with her husband, Joe, and
his two young children. Yet one summer day Joe breaks his
own rule-never turn your back on the ocean-and a sleeper
wave strikes him down, drowning not only the man but his
many secrets.
For three years, Ella has been the only mother the kids have
known and has believed that their biological mother, Paige,
abandoned them. But when Paige shows up at the funeral,
intent on reclaiming the children, Ella soon realizes there
may be more to Paige and Joe's story. "Ella's the best thing
that's happened to this family," say her close-knit
Italian-American in-laws, for generations the proprietors of
a local market. But their devotion quickly falters when the
custody fight between mother and stepmother urgently and
powerfully collides with Ella's quest for truth.
The Underside of Joy is not a fairy-tale version of
stepmotherhood pitting good Ella against evil Paige, but an
exploration of the complex relationship of two mothers.
Their conflict uncovers a map of scars-both physical and
emotional-to the families' deeply buried tragedies,
including Italian internment camps during World War II and
postpartum psychosis.
Weaving a rich fictional tapestry abundantly alive with the
glorious natural beauty of the novel's setting, Halverson is
a captivating guide through the flora and fauna of human
emotion-grief and anger, shame and forgiveness, happiness
and its shadow complement . . . the underside of joy.
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