REVIEW: THE GOOD WIFE, BY JANE PORTER

Even though Sarah, the youngest Brennan sister, is the centerpiece of The Good Wife (A Brennan Sisters Novel), we get to join the whole Brennan family and share their joys and their sorrows.

And the book begins with lots of sorrows.

Two losses devastate them all. Then, Sarah, who is married to her baseball player husband Boone, continues to struggle with trust issues…and some changes come along for her very shortly after the book’s beginning.

The author also introduces the Summers family from Napa: Lauren and Lisa, and when Lauren’s story, in her perspective, first appeared, I was confused. Did she show up in a previous novel? What, if anything, connects her to Sarah and her family?

But I soon found out, and then I was totally engaged in her story.

Themes of loss, family dynamics, children’s behavioral issues, and starting over filled the pages, and my emotions were definitely aroused throughout. I think this read was more satisfying in many ways than the other books, which I loved a lot. Perhaps it was the sense that the door was closing on the family. Now I wish for another book about them.

The characters felt very real to me, and I loved the familiar settings of San Francisco, Napa, and Capitola. Special places in my life, too. I could also relate to many of the issues they all experienced, and how lives unravel when trust is lost. How moving on after death can seem impossible. Five stars.