Don Wooldridge

Second in Don Wooldridge’s Clayton County novels, New Beginnings feels like several novels in one, and offers something for everyone. There’s romance as Sarah leaves everything she knows to return to the man she once spurned. Scary courtroom and jail-cell drama offers a hint of mystery and investigation. Small-town generosity abounds when disaster strikes a small businessman. Intriguing old-school lessons give a fledgling teacher a good old-fashioned chance to try her wings and bring unruly students to order (I did indeed enjoy her lessons, and even learned something about barter and the IRS!). Then there’s the story of a marriage, weathering storms of children who don’t turn out the way mom would like; and the highly intelligent girl who changes from rebel to beauty overnight—but there’s surely more to come.

And there is more. Book three is already out there (I checked the internet). And book one, which I haven’t read, will show, I expect, how big-city Sarah was converted into small-town girl, and what led to her leaving her Chicago romance so suddenly.

A leisurely trip through the life of a small family, in a small town, in a rather larger world, New Beginnings is a long read, easy to pick up and put down, with enjoyable characters and situations—nothing too harsh, nothing to easy, and everything in its place.

Disclosure: I was lucky enough to buy this when it was free.… (plus d'informations)