Book Review - A Grown-up Kind of Pretty

A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty by Joshilyn Jackson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Every fifteen years of her life, there has been a year of horror for Jenny Slocumb. When she was fifteen, she wound up pregnant, deserted by the baby's father and pushed out on her own by her parents. When she was thirty, her own 15 year old daughter Liza, already experimenting with drugs, found herself pregnant. Then she took off, leaving Jenny to wonder for years what happened to her baby and her grandbaby.

Now she's 45. Her daughter returned home years ago with her granddaughter, Mosey, who Jenny is terrified is going to repeat the cycle of getting pregnant at fifteen. Liza suffered a recent stroke and is recovering, albeit slowly, under Jenny's care. What else can go wrong, she thinks? Oh, little does she know... when she hires someone to remove the willow tree from her back yard in hopes of installing an in-ground pool to assist in her daughter's recovery, the unearthing reveals a small silver box... filled with bones.

As the mystery of whose bones were buried under the willow begins to unravel, the history of these three, wonderful, curious, strong southern women emerges. It's a fascinating tale of motherhood, sisterhood, friendship and betrayal. It's about how wonderful and how terrible small towns can be for anyone slightly "different" and how family bonds are made and kept.

There were moments of frustration for me with this book, because one of the characters - Mosey, to be specific - had some trains of thoughts that made me want to shake her. But, of course, all that is perfectly normal for 15 year old girls, despite their best efforts. This was well-written, and all of the characters were outstanding and very richly detailed. I loved, in particular, the little quirks of southern living that cropped up from time to time and reminded me of my own time living in the southern US.

This is a book that might make you cry if you're tender-hearted, but will definitely make you smile if you have a soul. It has enough mystery to keep you guessing, and enough exploration of deep issues to make you feel as if you've really accomplished something wonderful when it's finished. All around, this book is one of those wonderful experiences that will haunt you long after you turn the last page.

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