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The Good Life, by Susan Kietzman
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Between workouts, charity events, and shopping, Ann Barons keeps her days as full as her walk-in closets. She shares an immaculate house with her CEO husband, Mike, and their two teenagers, Nate and Lauren. It's a luxurious life, far from her homespun childhood on a farm in eastern Pennsylvania. . .which is why Ann is wary when her elderly parents ask to move in temporarily.
Ann prepares in the way she knows best--hiring decorators and employing a full-time nurse for her dementia-stricken father. But nothing can prepare her for the transformations ahead. Soon, her mother Eileen is popping in to prepare soups and roasts in Ann's underused kitchen, while the usually surly Nate forms an alliance with his ailing grandfather. Lauren blossoms under Eileen's guidance, and even workaholic Mike finds time to attend high-school football games. But it's Ann who must make the biggest leap, and confront the choices and values that have kept her floating on life's surface for so long.
Timely, poignant, and wise, The Good Life is a deeply satisfying and beautifully written story about the complex relationships between parents and children--and the gap that often lies between what we seek, and what will truly make us whole.
"The moving story of a family's rebirth through the simple but profound acts of daily kindness and sacrifice." –Holly Chamberlin, author of Last Summer
Susan Kietzman is a Connecticut native. She has a bachelor's degree in English from Connecticut College and a master's degree in journalism from Boston University. She has worked in both magazine and newspaper publishing and currently writes grants for the Mystic Seaport Museum. The Good Life is her first novel. She lives with her family in Mystic, CT.
- Sales Rank: #79614 in eBooks
- Published on: 2013-02-26
- Released on: 2013-02-26
- Format: Kindle eBook
Most helpful customer reviews
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful.
Not a 5-Star Novel
By Patty MB
One of the topics of this book is grown children having to care for their elderly parents; that's how the book begins. Ann receives a phone call from her mother, who tells Ann that she and Ann's father (who has dementia) must move in with them because their planned move to an assisted living home isn't going to happen soon enough. Ann and her husband, Mike, put the parents up in their guest house. Ann and Mike live in a home that's worth $3.2 million. Nice! So, it was easy for Ann to pay $20,000 to update the guest house for her parents.
Ann and Mike also have two teenagers; there are story lines surrounding the teens. Of course, they are confused by these grandparents who they only see once a year (at Christmas) and aren't sure they want them hanging around, especially after their first family meal, when they see their grandfather wearing a "Baby Huey bib" and drooling.
Ann is rich and spoiled; it was hard for me to like her, much less care about her. I loved her parents; they were real and at times, I wanted to just scream at Ann to be grateful to have two parents, even though her father was a challenge. Ann's answer to the stress of having to deal with her parents was to shop and to drink. Thank goodness for American Express Gold! Anytime there was a problem, Ann made it about herself. Talk about self-centered!
Anyway, the book goes on, detailing the lives of this extended family, and I won't spoil anymore for potential readers. Suffice it to say, Ann resents her parents for needing her; she resents her mother for making her fat as a child; she drinks too much; she spends money (I lost count of how many pairs of shoes) the way some people only dream of. Her husband is a CEO and is tempted by beautiful women. Her teenage son is a spoiled brat, too, but it's very interesting to see how he grows because of his experience with his grandfather. The daughter is not a brat; she's neglected by her busy parents and she automatically falls into a happy relationship with her grandmother.
The book ended rather rapidly. We were at one point, and then suddenly BANG! It's as if the author decided that she wanted to write a book of so many pages and when she got to her page limit, she slammed it all together and wrapped it up with pretty paper and tape and said, "It's done!"
Well, it wasn't done nice and neatly in my opinion. Life doesn't work that way.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
Couldn't Put It Down
By Sam
This is a story about Ann Barons who is married to a very successful CEO, has 2 teenagers and more money than she knows what to do with. When her mother calls one day and tells Ann that she needs help with her father, who has dementia, Ann reluctantly agrees to let them come stay until a room opens up at a assisted living home. She decides to put them in the guest house, hires a decorator to redo it telling her to replace the furniture with inexpensive wood composite furniture that Ann could simply donate to the Salvation Army when her parents left. The two kids, Nate and Lauren, don't really know their grandparents and aren't happy that they are coming even for a short time. Ann assures them that the grandparents will only come over to the main house on Sundays for dinner and the rest of the time stay in the guest house away from them. But her mother Eileen has different ideas.
This book brings out so many emotions and it was interesting to see the kids change under the loving hands of their grandmother. Ann is the only one that is unlikable throughout the whole book. Because Ann wanted to forget her simple upbringing on the family farm, she rarely visited her aging parents. She has it all and yet is reluctant to share even the slightest bit with her parents. All her mother wants is to spend more time with her only child and all Ann wants is for her mother to stay in the guest house and leave her alone to her drinking which is what Ann does best. When Mike points out to her that her drinking is getting out of control all Ann has to do is pout and tell him he is being mean for Mike to once again turn a blind eye to it. Not only does Ann not have time for her parents, she also doesn't have time for her children, she doesn't cook for them, attend their sporting events, doesn't even take the time to know their friends. At one point Mike says "The kids will be out of the house in a few years" and Ann responds with "God, I dream about that." Mike is not quite as shallow as Ann is but in thinking that he is providing a good life for his family he feels justified in not having any interaction with his children.
The book for me was about watching Nate and Lauren go from kids who didn't want to be in their grandparents presence to wanting to be with them all the time. As Lauren learns to cook with her grandmother and other life lessons Nate forms a bond with his grandfather that is so heartwarming. The only two people who really don't get it is Ann and Mike. Right up to the end I kept waiting for the parents to think of what would be best for Nate, Lauren, Eileen and Sam but Ann and Mike stayed just as self absorbed and selfish to the last page, which I think was written in an attempt to make the reader like Ann. At the end when Sam pulled Nate in for a hug and whispered "You are my best friend" I could not quit crying.
Read this book if you want to read a feel good story. You will fall in love with Eileen, Sam, Lauren and Nate. This book was so good I read it in one day, I simply could not go to sleep until I read the last page. I won this from LibraryThing Members Giveaway and I highly recommend this book.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful.
The Good Life
By K. Branfield
The Good Life is a poignant and sometimes heartrending novel about the complexities of family relationships. It is a thought-provoking story about finding out what is truly important in life and how we sometimes lose the best parts of ourselves in our attempts to get ahead. Susan Kietzman also provides an in-depth and insightful look into the devastating impact that Parkinson's disease and dementia have on those afflicted with these life-altering diseases and their loved ones.
On the surface, Ann Barons has it all. An über rich and highly successful CEO husband and two well-adjusted teenagers. But underneath her serene facade lies a woman who can never be rich enough, thin enough or important enough. Ann's days are spent in an alcohol induced haze and she fills her empty hours with exercise, shopping, zealously counting calories and chairing a few charities. She is disconnected from her kids and she is too "busy" to go to her daughter's volleyball games or her son's football games. Ann is incredibly self-absorbed, self-centered and selfish and I had a very difficult time liking her or feeling any sympathy for her.
In sharp contrast, Ann's parents, Eileen and Sam, are down to earth retired farmers who handle life's challenges with aplomb. Like many dementia patients, Sam has rapidly gone downhill, and Eileen is unable to care for him on her own. While waiting for an opening in an extended care facility, Eileen reaches out to her only child for assistance.
Ann grudgingly extends an invitation for her parents to stay in their guest cottage, hires a full time caregiver for them and blithely continues her shallow life. She resents her mother's intrusion in her life and makes no effort to understand her father's condition. Confronted with the past she has left behind, Ann plays the martyred daughter to the hilt and her drinking begins to spiral out of control.
Eileen is warm, outgoing and unfailing cheerful despite the anguish of Sam's condition and she eagerly embraces the opportunity to get to know her grandchildren. Despite Ann's prickly attitude, Eileen continues to try to forge a better relationship with her daughter. The dichotomy between Eileen and Ann is quite jarring and aptly demonstrates the vast differences between mother and daughter.
The dementia aspect of the story is realistically and sensitively depicted. Ms. Kietzman perfectly captures the utter hopelessness and heartbreak of seeing a loved one turn into an unrecognizable stranger. It is through this part of the storyline that Ann's children learn compassion as they become deeply involved with their grandparents' day to day life. The care and patience they exercise with their often confused grandfather and their loving grandmother is easily the best part of The Good Life.
While Eileen and Sam have the most impact on their grandchildren, they are also a positive influence on their son-in-law Mike and to a limited degree, Ann. Mike works long hours at the office and more often than not, brings work home with him. He is marginally more involved with the children than Ann and makes a genuine effort to get to know them. Mike is more receptive to Eileen's home cooked meals and family oriented get togethers than Ann and he appreciates what Eileen's presence means to the kids. Although he is aware of Ann's drinking problem, he does little to get her the help that she needs.
The Good Life is an emotional read that resonates with authenticity. Susan Kietzman provides an unflinching and honest view of the harsh realities of dementia in a forthright and sensitive manner, and she never downplays how difficult this disease is for both the patient and their family. The novel's ending is quite moving and more of a beginning for Ann and Mike to continue making positive changes in their lives.
The Good Life is a beautiful lesson in compassion, love and good old fashioned values that I highly recommend.
I received a complimentary copy for review.
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