The Arrivals - Book Review

It's early summer when Ginny and William's peaceful life in Vermont comes to an abrupt halt. First, their daughter Lillian arrives, with her two children in tow, to escape her crumbling marriage. Next, their son Stephen and his pregnant wife Jane show up for a weekend visit, which extends indefinitely when Jane ends up on bed rest. When their youngest daughter Rachel appears, fleeing her difficult life in New York, Ginny and William find themselves consumed again by the chaos of parenthood - only this time around, their children are facing adult problems.

After children leave the home, it is not uncommon, or unwanted for them to visit their parents. But, in this story, life has dealt each of the adult children an unexpected hand. In their time of need or uncertainty, they go home. But what happens when a family of adult children moves back in together for a while? Well, life happens. Author Meg Mitchell Moore does an amazing job painting domestic life, complicated relationships, and engaging characters. It was a comfortable and thought provoking story that I didn't want to put down.

I loved the interactions between the characters in the book. I really enjoyed one particular exchange between Lillian and Heather where Lillian was thinking about her future and decisions she needed to make. It caused her to think about her role in the family and how she would describe herself. "If anyone asked my mother what she did, she would have said, 'I'm a housewife.' Or, 'I'm a homemaker.' But we -you, me, everyone in my town - we're  stay-at-home-mothers. And we'd be insulted if anyone called us housewives." Being a stay-at-home-mom myself, I would never call myself a homemaker. I was drawn into this conversation and this part, along with many others in the book, were memorable. I just love books that do that.

Overall I loved the story, I loved the characters, and I loved the author's writing style. Her writing is beautiful and the character's dialogues are honest and real. I would have to recommend this book as a must for any beach bag, flight or sunny afternoon. Once you start reading, you won't want to put it down, so block out some time to relax and enjoy this wonderful story. Currently you can find this book in both book form and Kindle download at Amazon. I hope you will add this title to your must-read list for Summer.

Meg Mitchell Moore worked for several years as a journalist. Her articles have been published in a wide variety of business and consumer magazines. She received a master's degree in English literature from New York University. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and their three children. The Arrivals is her first novel.