Reprise Review: Don't Tell Anyone by Laurie Boris

 

Genre: Women’s Fiction

Description:

“When pneumonia lands Estelle Trager unconscious in the emergency room, it ruins everything for the stubborn 65-year-old woman. She'd been keeping a secret—a deadly secret—that she'd planned on taking to the grave. But now her son Adam and his wife, Liza, know about her tumors. Adam is outraged, but Estelle, who watched her mother and grandmother suffer from breast cancer in the days when no one dared speak its name, has no intention of putting her family or herself through the horrors of cancer treatment. Estelle decides there is only one solution: ask Liza, the 33-year-old daughter-in-law she once called a godless hippie raised by wolves, to kill her.”

Author:

A freelance writer, editor, proofreader, and former graphic designer, Boris is the author of two other novels, The Joke’s on Me and Drawing Breath. She lives with her husband in the Hudson Valley of New York.

For more, visit Boris’ website.

Appraisal:

This is the second book I’ve read by Laurie Boris, and although the story and characters are much different, it struck me that the other book, Drawing Breath, had a character suffering from a serious disease too. This is a time-tested recipe to create conflict, one of the more important qualities a book needs to draw a reader in and make them care about what happens.

I would describe Don’t Tell Anyone as character driven. The main point-of-view character is Liza and the story revolves around how she, her husband Adam, their family, and friends deal with Liza’s mother-in-law, Estelle, after she is diagnosed with cancer. Not to mention how Estelle reacts and the chain-reaction among all concerned. It’s an interesting spotlight on the dynamics of relationships, both within families and between friends.

Buy now from:    Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Original review posted December 4, 2012.

Format/Typo Issues:

My reading was based on a beta version. Unable to judge the final product in this area.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 60-65,000 words