Good story. Mom gets MS;dad leaves;LD son takes care of family with help. Seems somewhat disjointed, but comes together in the end.

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12548981
Another case where I am not sure if my negative feelings are about the book or how it's read.

The author reads the book. She writes about a family in Wisconsin, and she lives in Wisconsin. Her voice has an unmistakeable upper midwest accent. Every character has this accent, regardless of where they live. I had trouble at times getting past it.

Julieanne is proud of her body, her ability to dance ballet, her flexibility, her strength. She is proud of her work as an advice columnist. She is proud of her family - her husband, Leo, the lawyer, her children, Gabe (Gabriel) and Caro (Caroline), and little Aurie (Aurora). Then it all goes to shit.

Not everything. But of course it seems that way. Leo decides he wants to take a sabbatical, "find himself". He wants to get back to the earth in some kind of commune. After he takes off to parts mostly unknown, Julie discovers that she has multiple sclerosis (MS). For someone who has taken such care of her body, who has burned the candle on both ends, the effects of this condition are devastating. She can no longer be everything to anyone who needs her.

Gabe steps in. A young teen with learning disabilities, Gabe can see what is needed and he is there to help. His sister Caro is less sympathetic. They both believe, though, that it is imperative that they find their father. He needs to know about his wife. He can make things better.

So obviously the family has slid over to the breakdown lane. How they work through it and get back on the road, somewhat the worse for wear, is the subject of the rest of the book.

I liked Gabe best. I found Julie somewhat sympathetic but couldn't really get close to her. The book uses a gimmick: excerpts from Julie's column introduce different issues - divorce, love, issues with children, betrayal - that Julie's family is experiencing. I am not a fan of such gimmicks. I simply didn't love the book, but I can't say there is anything seriously wrong with it. It's a good one for fans of what they call on the cover "life-affirming" stories. And I admit the message is a good one: we deal with what is thrown at us and life goes on. ( )

I love books about family life, and this family has a lot going on. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it. ( )

I have a daughter with MS and it seems to me that she rolled all the symptoms of MS into one story. I'm sorry to say I thought the book was a cliche. Although I loved the author's first book Deep End of the Ocean - I wish she would write something of that caliber once more. ( )

On the surface Julianne and Leo Steiner have a perfect life and a happy family. Leo is an up-and-coming business lawyer for the local college and Julianne, ex-ballerina, has taken a job at a newspaper as the advice columnist. The have three beautiful children: Gabe, a 15-year-old with learning disabilites but exremely intelligent; Caroline, a 14 year-old 'good girl' who hopes to be a famous dancer someday; 2 year-old Aury, the unexpected baby. Minute cracks begin to show in the marriage as Leo begins to complain about money, excess amounts of electronics and clothing, needing to "get back to the earth", and it becomes obvious to everyone that Leo is no longer happy. He wants to move his family to a compound in the Hudson Valley where everyone depends on one another and what they can grow for food. In other words, he wants to be a hippie. Julianne balks at the thought and Leo decides to take a sabbatical from his job and his family for a few months to explore the commune possibilities. Shortly after he leaves Julianne has worsening symptoms for some minor problems she has had for a while but thought it was just stress-related. She is diagnosed with MS and needs Leo more than ever but she is unable to reach him. Gabe and Caroline, although furious with their father, decide to go find him and drag him home. When they do find him Leo is happily cohabitating with the 25-year-old Joy (short for "Joyous") and is now the proud papa to a nearly 2-year-old baby with another on the way. Reluctantly Leo drives his 2 teens home, bringing along his new son for good measure, to confront the woman he left behind.

This is a very difficult book to rate. It started out rather slow but once it picked up speed I read it rather quickly. I don't know if that was because I was enjoying the story so much or because I could not believe what an imbecile Leo was. Midlife crisis? I swear it was like the man was lobotomized. I liked Julianne for the most part, although she was rather clueless. Gabe is a heartbreaking character; he took on so many of Leo's duties, became a surrogate father to Aury (oh yeah, that's short for Aurora Borealis), dealt with a mother who had some very rough days with her new meds, and struggled with schoolwork that was a mountainous chore for him. The ending, although satisfying I suppose, left me feeling a bit underwhelmed.
( )