Review: She Is Truly Lovely
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 17, 2012
This is another masterpiece by renowned novelist Bettye Griffin. If there were 10 stars I would have to give this novel a 20. A perfect setting for this book to be read would be a fire in the fireplace, candles everywhere a glass of wine and Stevie Wonder's rendition of Isn't She Lovely playing softly in the background. This book depicts humans with all of their flaws and what they do to overcome them. There is Keith Norwood, State Attorney General and political hopeful, his teenaged son, who causes an accident while driving illegally, and Ronald Knight, Keith's father-in-law, who are all still grieving the tragic deaths of Keith's wife and her mother which occured while they were all on vacation. What a horrible thing for them to witness. This accident happened 5 years earlier. The grandfather and the son have been able to cope (with help from a pschologist for the son]. Keith Norwood unfortunately has not. When the son runs over a little boy causing him to end up with a broken leg Keith wants to protect his son , but also feels he needs to know that actions have consequences. Enter Tracy Pegran, the mother of the injured child. She catches Keith's attention and after a settlement negotiation in which she is angry, but  cool, calm and collected, Keith notices how lovely she is. Tracy is a divorced mother of two children and is scrapinghorhor by, trying to do the best for her children. She doesn't get much in the way of financial support from her ex-husband who is an aspiring actor. Keith wants to protect his son from having to appear in court and of course being a candidate for public office he does not need the notoriety. So he and Tracy strike up a deal for housing in lieu of a cash srttlement.The son Josh wants to apo;ogize to Gabe for injuring him and he and Keith are surprised when Tracy welcomes him into her home and the lives of her children. Enter Wendy Ward an anchor for one of the TV networks who has designs on Keith and visions of being The First Lady of the state. It turns out that she likes him more than he likes her. As Tracy and Keith embark on their journey of getting to know each other,Wendy's manipulations cause them great grief. Keith displays intimacy issues which stem from guilt that he thinks he is responsible for the deaths of his wife and mother-in-law. The secondary characters are very helpful and quite delightful, and honest with him. His father-in-law Ronald, Ronald's girlfriend Charlotte Robinson, and his lawyer and best friend add more depth to the story. Fast forward I was glad to see Tracy and Keith marry and blend their families,but road they had to travel gives new meaning to the vow for better or worse. You will have to purchase this book to see what I mean. In ending, I must say that to see my name as a secondary character did me good. I would have loved this book no matter what Ronald's girlfriend's name was but I am glad she was named Charlotte. I say to everyone ORDER THIS BOOK. You will be glad you did. You did good Bettye. Can't wait for the next one.