Belong to Me

Today I finished listening to Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos. This is a book about grays. (I'll explain later)

Belong to Me is a story about 3 different lives and how they intertwine. Cornelia, who was a devoted city dweller, has found herself dropped in suburban land and is out of sorts. Lake, a single mother, who lives solely for her 13 year old son Dev. Piper, the queen bee of the suburban women, who is all about appearances and who has found herself tending to more than just her children.

Cornelia and Tao, her extremely handsome husband, move into a suburb close to where Tao has taken a new job as an oncologist. Here they meet, at a social gathering, Piper. Piper makes it her business to make sure everyone lives up to appearances right down to the flowers in their yard. Cornelia immediately hates her and feels substandard, when she has always been comfortable in her own skin. At one point, Cornelia feels so low and is out looking for comfort food. She meets Lake and strikes up a great friendship. Lake has moved herself and Dev across the US in what seems a move to get Dev in a better school, but Dev suspects it may involve finding his father. Lake lives and breaths her son and is doing all she can to make his life better.

As I said earlier, this is a book about grays. The characters are human. You hate Piper along with Cornelia, but also see a different side to her that makes you feel for her. You see Lake doing all she can for her son, but to what extent? You see a marriage dissolving, but cannot find fault with or demonize one particular partner. Much like life, it is not all black and white, right or wrong. I loved the characters and unlike any other "chick-lit" book I have read, this one was deep, thoughtful and felt real. I generally steer away from this genre because I always feel an amount of dumbing-down or fairy-tale flakiness. Not this book. I loved it.

I give this a 5 out of 5 and highly recommend this one !