(Book Review) Between, Georgia

I must start out by saying: I L-O-V-E-D this book.  Between, Georgia by Joshilyn Jackson is a page-turner, from start to finish.

Here is a summary, taken from Jackson's web site:

There's always been bad blood between the Fretts and the Crabtrees. After all, the Fretts practically own the tiny town of Between, Georgia, while the Crabtrees only rent space in its jail cells.

Stacia Frett is a deaf artist with a genetic condition that is causing her to slowly go blind. She's lost the love of her life, and when her vision goes, she'll lose her career as well. She's asking God why He keeps her breathing in and out, until the night fifteen year old Hazel Crabtree shows up on her doorstep brandishing a stomach swollen with a pregnancy she'd hidden for nine months. Stacia thinks Hazel's unwanted baby might be God's answer, and so the Fretts decide to steal it...

Thirty years later, Nonny Frett is a successful interpreter living in Athens, Georgia. She understands the meanings of "rock" and "hard place" better than any woman ever born. She's got two mothers, "one deaf-blind and the other four baby steps from flat crazy." She's got two men; Her husband is easing out the back door and her best friend is laying siege to her heart in her front yard. She has a job that holds her in the city, and she's addicted to a little girl who's stuck deep in the country. And she has two families; The Fretts, who stole her and raised her right, and the Crabtrees, who lost her and can't forget that they've been done wrong.

In Between, Georgia, population 90, the feud that began before Nonny was born is escalating, and a random act of violence will set the torch to a thirty-year old stash of highly flammable secrets. This might be just what the town needs, if only Nonny wasn't sitting in the middle of it...

Jackson's characters are complex and genuine.  No one is perfect, and so we relate to each of them in one way or another (even if we don't particularly like them).  She paints the town so perfectly that I could actually see the action taking place -- and the drama is so captivating that I found myself holding my breath in several key moments.

I couldn't read this book fast enough, and finished it within twenty-four hours.  This is the second book of Jackson's that I devoured -- I read The Girl Who Stopped Swimming back in January and loved it, and am anxious to read her latest, Backseat Saints.  I would recommend this to anyone who loves a complex plot  -- this isn't a simple chick-lit-love-story.  This book will make you examine your views on family obligation, nature versus nurture, and the true meaning of "mother."

Rating: 5 stars Tweet