November 2012
I have been a longtime fan of Juliette Fay’s. Her previous books --- SHELTER ME and DEEP DOWN TRUE --- were both Bets On selections, thus when THE SHORTEST WAY HOME came across my desk, I was excited to read it. Here, Sean Doran has spent 20 years overseas in the third world helping others. Tired of his work and in need of a break, he comes home to Belham, Massachusetts, where he sees that life for his elderly aunt, his sister and his nephew is in need of some of his attention. He assesses what is going on with the same methodical techniques he learned overseas, only to come to see that he too is in need of attention. He sees that he has been avoiding a lot of things in his own life, including dealing with the loss of his mom from Huntington’s Disease and his dad, who left his three young children with the aunt and went away. An old crush crosses paths with him, as well as a young woman who was a wallflower in high school who walks back into his life, and suddenly feelings of attachment start to creep up when he least expected them.
Read more »
