Three Good Things: A Novel
Ellen McClarety divorced her charming bum of a husband, Max, and, inspired by her late mother’s cookbook, got a fresh start with a kringle bakery. Ellen’s younger sister, Lanie, is struggling to balance motherhood with a satisfying law career. Lanie’s husband, Rob, flounders, unappreciated, at his architecture firm, and Lanie begins to wonder if Rob’s late hours have to do with a hot coworker. Then Max comes back and threatens both Ellen’s fragile heart and her budding relationship with a shy horticulturist. First-novelist Francis manages some big plot twists without throwing off the quiet, even tone of the book, and Ellen’s obsession with grammar has a surprising payoff. Some of the characterization wavers; Henry goes from a shy, grieving horticulturist to bro-ing down with Rob over sports and beer. But Ellen and Lanie are great characters, being both sister- and mother-figure to each other. The novel doesn’t quite achieve the emotional intensity of Susan Wiggs’ or Kristin Hannah’s work, but Ellen’s journey is an engaging one. For daring readers, there is a kringle recipe in the back. --Susan Maguire