I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: the library
Precious and Fragile Things
by
Megan Hart
suspense in Paperback edition that was published by MIRA Books on December 21, 2010 and has 394 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Tempted, Broken, Three to Tango, The Space Between Us, Vanilla, Naked, An Erotic Collection Volume 1
A standalone psychological suspense of a a woman relieved when she’s carjacked.
My Take
I don’t think I’ve ever cried so hard at the end of a story. Hart is the most amazing writer. She looks into the heads of average people and brings them to life. In Precious and Fragile Things, we share Gillian Solomon’s frustration with her kids as she’s struggling to finish her errands and get home all with the chant of “mama, mama, mama” piercing her brain.
So it’s understandable that she collapses into inertia once she has protected her children, and it’s only her at her kidnapper’s mercy.
The start just sets the background, so we understand why Gillian is so compliant at first. As we get deeper in, we learn more about her traumatic childhood and why she behaves as she does with her own children. The effort she puts in to counter her mother’s influences. Through her kidnapper Gilly learns to see herself from an outside perspective. Her reactions, her anger, her love for her children. Her realizations about her husband.
Further in, we begin to learn about Todd. What drives him. His childhood experiences and how they shaped him. The dreams he realizes will never be realized. Finally we learn his true intentions, which Gillian helps him achieve. Oh god…I can’t believe she did it. I cried huge sobbing tears. Such a waste of a person. It’s a good argument for forcing people to apply for a parenting license. Enforced sterilization until people prove they will do their best and are ready to be parents. We obviously can’t help traumatized children with our current system, and I so hate that children, babies, suffer like this.
Reading this particular story of Hart’s has made me realize just why I prefer my more usual fictional interests. I empathize too much with the story’s characters. Yes, I know they’re not real. The problem is that they are representative of people and children who do exist. And I hate it.
Life is hard enough without witnessing the horror of other peoples’ lives.
The Story
Gilly Soloman has been reduced to a mothering machine, taking care of everyone and everything except herself. But the machine has broken down. Burnt out by the endless days of crying children and menial tasks, and exhausted from always putting herself last, Gilly doesn’t immediately consider the consequences when she’s carjacked.
With a knife to her throat, her first thought is that she’ll finally get some rest. Someone can save “her” for a change. But salvation isn’t so forthcoming.
Stranded in a remote, snowbound cabin with this stranger, hours turn to days, days into weeks. As time forges a fragile bond between them, she learns her captor is not the lunatic she first believed, but a human being whose wasted life has been shaped by secrets and tragedy. Yet even as their connection begins to foster trust, Gilly knows she must never forget he’s still a man teetering on the edge. One who just might take her with him.
The Characters
Gillian Soloman is a mother on the edge. Seth is her husband.
Todd is the kidnapper.
The Cover and Title
The cover is absolutely fabulous. Todd has taken Gillian to his Uncle Bill’s cabin up in the woods in January and shortly after they arrive it begins to snow. The little bit of news they can get over the radio is that it’s the storm of the century.
The title, precious and fragile things, is also perfect, as it’s about children. How very precious and fragile they are. Meant to be protected
Do not go gentle into that good night…
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
