The Underside of Joy by Sere’ Prince Halverson was a book that grabbed my interest from the first page. It’s about a loving wife, Ella, whose husband drowns and leaves her alone to deal with his family … including two young kids that she’s raised as her own for the last three years. Everything gets turned upside down when the birth mom, Paige, attends the funeral. I wished the author would have given the readers more time with Joe, the husband, but the more I read, the more I understood why Joe had to die so soon into the book.
I must admit that at times I thought the book was long-winded and didn’t seem to go anywhere. I had a difficult time connecting a few of the dots along the way, and it seemed that tidy little bow at the end of the book could have come a lot sooner. That said, the story still held my interest. While it wasn’t my favorite book that the BlogHer Book Club has read, I’d say that it was worth my time to read it. I honestly feel that this book could have been much shorter had the author cut to the chase much quicker — OR — it could have been so much longer, giving the author the time to really turn her writing into an eloquent story about life, love, and loss.
If you would like to join the BlogHer Book Club conversation about The Underside of Joy you can do so here. You don’t need to have read the book in order to participate. The moderator does an excellent job of picking apart bigger picture questions of the book and discussing how it relates to her our lives. The first discussion is — Are You Prepared for a Personal Emergency?
