[8FS]∎ PDF On the Shores of Darkness There Is Light edition by Cordelia Strube Literature Fiction eBooks

On the Shores of Darkness There Is Light edition by Cordelia Strube Literature Fiction eBooks

Download As PDF : On the Shores of Darkness There Is Light edition by Cordelia Strube Literature Fiction eBooks

On the Shores of Darkness There Is Light edition by Cordelia Strube Literature Fiction eBooks

Harriet may technically be considered a child in terms of years at the age of 11, but she is well beyond her years when you count her disappointments in life, in her parents and in some of her neighboring senior citizens. Harriet’s savvier than average, knows how to read people pretty well, and has her own little money making enterprise going on. Maybe a little conniving with her senior citizen neighbors, but no more than the seniors trying to get her to help them all the time for free. Time is money, after all, and Harriet has a plan for the money she’s making. She’s a budding artist, with a bit of darkness in her art, but Harriet is not typical in any way so why would you expect her art to be full of rainbows and unicorns? She’s sassy and cynical, a little spiteful and resourceful. You can’t help but love her.

On the slightly less than lovable list is the father’s new wife, Uma, an intellectual, who prefers her computer to human contact with Harriet, her father, who prefers bicycling with friends to time with his children. Then there’s Gennedy, her mother’s live-in, a lawyer who never manages to make any money who is fighting for the top spot for the list. And there’s Irwin. Harriet’s little brother, born with medical complications leaving him with multiple health problems. Who has time for Harriet? Well, no one.

Irwin is sweet, adores his big sister Harriet, sleeps on her with his ear to her chest from the time he is little. While Harriet resents that Irwin gets all of her parents’ attention, she has a soft spot in her heart for Irwin that only grows bigger.

Even the senior citizens in their building are people you will know and love, always offering Harriet their advice, telling her their stories.

As in life, the sweet is mixed with sadness. Cordelia Strube (who is a new author to me) has written a wonderful book that will run you through every emotion and leave you so glad that you read “On the Shores of Darkness.”


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On the Shores of Darkness There Is Light edition by Cordelia Strube Literature Fiction eBooks Reviews

What makes this incredibly sad story bearable is that at times it is incredibly funny. What makes reading about the unbelievable irresponsibility of Harriet and Irwin's parents bearable is that they are beside these children , who are the light of this story and who had my heart from the beginning. The moments when I laughed mostly were at the comings and goings of the senior community at the Shangrila apartment building where Harriet and her brother Irwin live with their oblivious mother (maybe well meaning and loves her children but still oblivious) and her mean spirited, insecure boyfriend. Their deadbeat, bike riding father who is self centered is around some of the time,but he is also oblivious. Together , these people allow Harriet to bear the burden of their failing as parents.

It's hard not to fall for eleven year Harriet. Oh sure she has a potty mouth sometimes, talks back to her elders and even wishes that her younger brother Irwin , who has suffered from illness since birth, wasn't alive but we know that's really not true. A much too stressful little life she leads at eleven, Harriet sometimes thinks she has heart trouble .

"Ever since Gran’s bypass operation, Harriet’s had heart trouble, particularly when she’s trying to sleep. She has to calm her heart, talk to it like one of the seniors, or it will leap out of her. Sometimes she feels it stop and has to jump around to get it moving again. She doesn’t trust her heart."

"She doesn’t hate him, not all the time anyway. When he can’t sleep and lies with his head on her chest, listening to her heartbeat, she doesn’t hate him. Ever since he was a baby Harriet's heartbeat has put him to sleep. She lies very still, not wanting to disturb him, feeling his heart beating much faster than hers. She doesn’t have heart trouble when Irwin falls asleep on her chest."

It's hard not to fall for Irwin either and as a reader I immediately knew that it would be the children in this novel that carry the story on their backs . My heart was broken for Harriet and then again for Irwin in the second part of the book as he agonizes over things that happened . I can think of a few other novels that made me feel this way [bookBoo|23012503], and [bookAquarium|22668848] and [bookA Land More Kind Than Home|12408149], all about devastating things happening to children in some way. I'm partial to the point of view of young characters because so many times they are so much wiser than the adults around them and this was true for me with Harriet at eleven and Irwin in the second part of the book eight years later at fourteen . It's more than difficult for me to talk about the devastating thing that happens here so I won't - not even with spoiler tags . Suffice it to say that for me what sometimes makes the difference between a 4 and a 5 star review is knowing that I won't or rather cannot forget the characters . 5 stars without a doubt.

I'm grateful to ECW Press for this ARC.
Harriet may technically be considered a child in terms of years at the age of 11, but she is well beyond her years when you count her disappointments in life, in her parents and in some of her neighboring senior citizens. Harriet’s savvier than average, knows how to read people pretty well, and has her own little money making enterprise going on. Maybe a little conniving with her senior citizen neighbors, but no more than the seniors trying to get her to help them all the time for free. Time is money, after all, and Harriet has a plan for the money she’s making. She’s a budding artist, with a bit of darkness in her art, but Harriet is not typical in any way so why would you expect her art to be full of rainbows and unicorns? She’s sassy and cynical, a little spiteful and resourceful. You can’t help but love her.

On the slightly less than lovable list is the father’s new wife, Uma, an intellectual, who prefers her computer to human contact with Harriet, her father, who prefers bicycling with friends to time with his children. Then there’s Gennedy, her mother’s live-in, a lawyer who never manages to make any money who is fighting for the top spot for the list. And there’s Irwin. Harriet’s little brother, born with medical complications leaving him with multiple health problems. Who has time for Harriet? Well, no one.

Irwin is sweet, adores his big sister Harriet, sleeps on her with his ear to her chest from the time he is little. While Harriet resents that Irwin gets all of her parents’ attention, she has a soft spot in her heart for Irwin that only grows bigger.

Even the senior citizens in their building are people you will know and love, always offering Harriet their advice, telling her their stories.

As in life, the sweet is mixed with sadness. Cordelia Strube (who is a new author to me) has written a wonderful book that will run you through every emotion and leave you so glad that you read “On the Shores of Darkness.”