5 Star Review
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Editorial Book Review:
By Thomas Brown
Tough Love by Caroline Taylor is a story about family, strength, and finding oneself that takes place during the hard times of the Great Recession in 2009. Taylor creates a main character named Lilac Larsen who is both weak and strong-willed. She is a widow who is dealing with sadness, unpleasant advances, and family duties she didn't expect. Her life is crazy and she feels alone a lot of the time, but her inner power grows in a real and interesting way as the book goes on.
The arrival of Lilac’s estranged half-sister Tulip, complete with a child who refuses to eat, is the trigger for much of the book’s tension. Tulip’s intrusion is a metaphorical bomb in Lilac’s fragile world, and Taylor expertly uses their strained sibling relationship to highlight deeper themes of forgiveness, obligation, and the limits of familial love. Adding the Great Recession to the feeling of pressure and disappointment makes it even worse. Even though the book is about sad things, it doesn't feel hopeless. Taylor finds the right mix between funny and sad, so you can't help but root for Lilac as she deals with the messiness of life.
Tough Love is brilliant because it shows broken, believable people and how the main character changes in a way that is both subtle and powerful. Lilac's journey to take back control of her life, even if it's not the one she had planned, is both moving and inspiring. There are some loose ends in the story, but Taylor's writing skill lies in giving readers room to think about their own ideas about love, loss, and personal growth.
Tough Love is a beautifully complicated story that reminds us that living the life we have now is sometimes more important than the life we think we want.
About the Author Caroline Taylor
Caroline Taylor is a novelist and short-story writer who grew up in the mountain west and traveled widely, including a brief stint in the Foreign Service. A former publications manager and editor of Humanities magazine, she is the author of several mysteries, one short-story collection, and a nonfiction book. Two of her novels won the Firebird Book award, and a third was a finalist for the Freddie Award. A member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime, she lives in North Carolina.
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