High Strung : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful First Novel
Review: Quinn Dalton combines humor and poignance as we follow the main character, Merle Winslow, as she returns to her roots in small-town Ohio to face the family she left and the past she's tried to ignore. Merle's dry humor and emotional honesty make the reader want to get to know her better and see her through a tumultuous time in her life, in which she attempts to figure out where she's been and where she's going. Dalton does a wonderful job of juxtaposing Merle's present and her family's dysfunctional past, keeping two engaging storylines flowing evenly and overlapping appropriately. Dalton also "lightens up" a theme that could become heavy by peppering the novel with funny, quirky scenes, usually involving Merle's brother Olin. At times, though, I wished for another 100 pages so that the relationships and storylines involving ancillary characters could be developed more thoroughly. All in all, this is a wonderful debut novel and I look forward to another.

Rating:
Summary: Bless Dalton--and the rage that drives her writing.
Review: Seamus Heaney observes that "no matter how far we go we are really never more than a few steps from our beginning."

I dog-eared pages..."That was the way he was: unfaillingly concerned for the poor, the underrepresented, the lonely, but somehow tuned out from the people closest to him." A distanced heart--well, that is what Merle is doing, closing the distances that will kill us if we don't overcome them.

"...but of course I had just taken my old life with me, like an outfit that was ill-fitting and too revealing, but stuck to my back." We've been through three decades of moving on, from home, family, from one relationship to another when our needs or expectations aren't met...Merle's plucky if exhausted move from an emotional wasteland, her willingness to work from the center of her pain, her path on out beyond it, give us all hope that we might do better on the big issues of home, family, even and especially love.

"We had cheated ourselves with everything we had decided not to know." Ah.

The characters are wonderful--quirky, as funny and true-to-life as any maimed-but-making-it authentic grandmother, father, brother, or sister might be. The wedding reception scene is wonderful!

Dalton mines the energy that drives a good "mad" and delivers the lesson on the edgy humor that makes heartbreak bearable in the moment. Can't wait for the next offering!

Jessica Williams--Walkertown, NC

Rating:
Summary: Love This Book!
Review: This book is terrific. The characters are quirky, but they ring true. The double mother and daughter plots are intriguiing as the two characters work through intersecting demons to figure out their lives. It's a great read for the chick-lit crowd and for those who lived through the peace, love and protest bombs. This was a fun read and a very thought-provoking novel. I'll be looking for more from Quinn Dalton.

Rating:
Summary: High Strung
Review: This is one of those few and far between books that both my husband and I enjoyed. The interesting characters and unfolding plot kept our attention until the end. I can't wait until Quinn has her next book published!