by Diane Winger
I'm hooked on this series now--a woman who was abandoned by her husband and sets out to escape an ice storm and ends up buying a tiny RV and taking her life on the road. The first book established all that, and this one continues her adventures with her new best friend and the friend's cat. It's kind of like an essay on the magic of women's friendships...with a little lesson on self-reliance and "finding your family" thrown in.
The "mystery" of her "great mistake" is very obvious from the start. And it made me uneasy, expected great pain. But if there was supposed to be great pain, it didn't come across in the telling.
Despite my enjoyment of the story, I have to admit that something in the writing falls flat. I can't put a finger on it, but it seems that the most heartbreaking pain or the most exciting adventure turns out dull. Or rather, just matter-of-fact. I suspect that the problem is that she's telling the story instead of showing it. Although it's in first person, there still a little something extra that needs to be done to put her readers "right there" and "in her head."
I don't know what it is--if I did, I'd be a famous writer. I just know it when I feel it and miss it when I don't.
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