Kathryn Maughan

In Kathryn Maughan's "DId I Expect Angels?" readers are shown how immensely grief can affect those left behind. Maughan intertwines the stories of Jennifer Huffaker, a young widow, and Henry, a greeter at a grocery store Jennifer frequents. Henry is an immigrant from Costa Rica who has lived in the U.S. for 40 years.

Readers first meet Jennifer the day after Christmas as she is trying to buy enough aspirin to kill herself. Jennifer's husband, Jack, died in a car accident 18 months earlier. Her grief does not subside and affects not only herself, but also the lives of her young daughter and the rest of her family.

Henry, seeing how much pain Jennifer is in, takes her from the store to a little restaurant to share his story of leaving Costa Rica and coming to the U.S. While Henry tells his story, Jennifer is reliving her past.

Maughan's touching story will make readers laugh and cry. I'm tearing up now just remembering it! Henry reminded me of Ugly Betty's father. What an angel he turns out to be! Love, perseverance, hard work, faith and hope are all part of Henry's story. He passes his experience on to Jennifer at a time she really needs to hear it. I like to think he is passing it on to me, too. I highly recommend "Did I Expect Angels?" and hope to read more of Maughan's work.… (plus d'informations)

Everyone deals with grief in their own way and in the novel "Did I Expect Angels?" Jennifer Huffaker is drowning in her grief for her husband. It's been eighteen months since his death and she still has a hard time getting out of bed and taking care of her young daughter, Kaitlin. On the day after Christmas she finally makes a drastic decision and heads to the local discount store to buy the supplies she needs. While at the check-out she is spotted by Henry, an elderly friend who works as a greeter, and he knows that now is the time to share his story with her. Jennifer reluctantly goes with Henry to a local diner and as he tells his story, she recalls her own and discovers that angels sometimes show up when you need them the most.

This is a beautifully written story by author, Kathryn Maughan. She manages to tell two stories at the same time in a way that doesn't confuse the reader and keeps the story flowing in a natural progression. That being said, I don't think it was necessary to have Henry's entire story in Italics. I found it to be distracting and it slowed down my reading. I think most readers would be able to follow along just fine with his story in a normal font and it would certainly be easier on the eye sight. Despite this slight irritation I would highly recommend this book as it deals with grief in a realistic way from a relatable point of view. The stories of both characters are interesting and I think everyone can find something familiar in Jennifer and/or Henry and relate in at least some way to the emotion and pain these characters have gone through.… (plus d'informations)

There was a plan in place for Jennifer Huffaker, after more than a year of trying to cope and move on, Jennifer had finally decided what she needed to do to give her daughter a better chance at a happy life. - Henry had lived his life, he’d been handed ups and downs, gone from poverty in Costa Rica to having a good life in New York. Now in his retirement, Henry has taken a job as a greeter at the local discount store. When he sees Jennifer come in late one night, looking more down than normal, he is determined to tell her about all the blessings he has had and still has in his life with the hope of helping her to realize that she too has her own blessing to count and that count on her.

This style of story telling is very unique to me, having Henry tell Jennifer about his life, while she remembers her own, at first it was hard to get into, but after a while the flow is easier to follow. Henry’s life story seems unrelated to Jennifer in the beginning, but soon it does becomes clear why he is taking the time to tell her. As Jennifer remembers her life and her reasons for that nights errand, it builds her as a character that becomes easy to relate to. Everyone who has had a loss goes through some aspect of the grief that Jennifer feels. While her story was easy to relate to, Henry’s story was a more of a chronological accounting of his life and a lot of it seemed unnecessary. Henry’s story was also made a little more difficult to follow because of the use of Spanish words (I know a little, but not enough to allow this part of the story to flow easily). Nearly all the parts of the story pertaining to his time in Costa Rica, while interesting, seemed unrelated to the main plot of saving Jennifer from herself and it took a long time to get to it, then it was over quickly and I felt as if the ending was rushed. The concept that - everyone can be some ones Angel if you care enough to try - is a great one and this is a touching story to help portray that message.… (plus d'informations)