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Hello Loved Ones
It’s 1968 in Holland, Michigan, and Sally Van Sloeten wants to know why her father doesn’t love her. Her mother, sister, and brother call her dad a deadbeat and never want to see him again, but Sally vows to find him in time for a Father/Daughter banquet, even if it means running away with a gas station attendant named Cash. She doesn’t care that her brother Lenny was arrested for breaking Cash’s nose. She won’t let Lenny’s explosive temper stand in her way, and she’s too preoccupied to wonder what has him so angry. All she knows is that she has to be like the other girls, whether it’s at the banquet or in the front seat of Cash’s car. But as Sally realizes her dream, her mother reveals a painful secret that sends her spinning out of control.
A coming-of-age story reminiscent of works by Anne Tyler and Elizabeth Strout, Hello Loved Ones takes readers on an emotional journey as each of the Van Sloetens struggles to define family ties, and to answer: Is love determined by blood or by choice? And what responsibility do we have to the life we create?
A coming-of-age story reminiscent of works by Anne Tyler and Elizabeth Strout, Hello Loved Ones takes readers on an emotional journey as each of the Van Sloetens struggles to define family ties, and to answer: Is love determined by blood or by choice? And what responsibility do we have to the life we create?
406 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
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341 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 26, 2012
Full disclosure: I got this book in a first-reads giveaway.
I may need to think about this book a little longer. The story takes place in Holland MI in 1968. Holland is something of a smaller town, I guess. I live in a town of about 5000 people right now. So it's sort of weird for me to decide if Holland in small or not in 1968. But it's not some boom metropolis. For the characters in the book it is also a religious community. (Dutch Reformed) All the characters are dealing with their faith in their own ways.
I think this is important to have in mind because looking at the characters through 2012 eyes they seem very naive and sheltered.
The story revolves around a mother and her three children ranging from 16 to 21. Her husband was a drunk and would beat her. Her only sun ran him off ten years earlier. The kids seem to feel not only natural resentment toward their father but also shame in the community and among their peers because of this. Sally, the youngest, doesn't hate her father as much because she was too young to remember much about him. And she is desperate to have him take her to the father/daughter dinner at church.
What follows is the revelation of family secrets--the discovery of biological parents, the moral failure of people were previously admired, the realization that expectations of perfection, and the conundrum of where do we do from here.
I'm not sure if I missed something at the end or if I just need to think about it more. Last night the ending felt satisfactory. This morning it gnaws at me. I am wondering if the family isn't continuing in the patterns in a way. I need to think about that. Isn't that good in a book? Can't give to many details about that one aspect. But overall, each character examines the concept of family and what that means. Let's face it, sometimes our closest family are the people who are not related to us by blood or marriage but by the emotional commitment and love,
I do recommend this one.
I may need to think about this book a little longer. The story takes place in Holland MI in 1968. Holland is something of a smaller town, I guess. I live in a town of about 5000 people right now. So it's sort of weird for me to decide if Holland in small or not in 1968. But it's not some boom metropolis. For the characters in the book it is also a religious community. (Dutch Reformed) All the characters are dealing with their faith in their own ways.
I think this is important to have in mind because looking at the characters through 2012 eyes they seem very naive and sheltered.
The story revolves around a mother and her three children ranging from 16 to 21. Her husband was a drunk and would beat her. Her only sun ran him off ten years earlier. The kids seem to feel not only natural resentment toward their father but also shame in the community and among their peers because of this. Sally, the youngest, doesn't hate her father as much because she was too young to remember much about him. And she is desperate to have him take her to the father/daughter dinner at church.
What follows is the revelation of family secrets--the discovery of biological parents, the moral failure of people were previously admired, the realization that expectations of perfection, and the conundrum of where do we do from here.
I'm not sure if I missed something at the end or if I just need to think about it more. Last night the ending felt satisfactory. This morning it gnaws at me. I am wondering if the family isn't continuing in the patterns in a way. I need to think about that. Isn't that good in a book? Can't give to many details about that one aspect. But overall, each character examines the concept of family and what that means. Let's face it, sometimes our closest family are the people who are not related to us by blood or marriage but by the emotional commitment and love,
I do recommend this one.
May 6, 2012
As the author of this book, I'll just say I hope YOU enjoy it and share your feedback with me. Thanks for reading!
January 14, 2016
This book was awful. The writing was sloppy & the plot ridiculous. While I normally have to finish what I start, I gave up on this 3/4 of the way through. The 5 star reviews are obviously from the author & her friends. Perhaps they should avail themselves of a neighborhood literacy program so they might one day have a better frame of reference.
July 15, 2016
I received this book in a giveaway when reading into the book I was captured by the story of how their father ended up leaving. however after the book lost my Interest I felt like the plot gets lost and book just goes in circles with the other characters involved I felt for Sally and her circumstances but I needed more from the book and writing to keep my interest wanting to read more.
February 10, 2023
Excellent books!!!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews