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The Qualities of Wood

Mary Vensel White (Goodreads Author)

3.07 · Rating details · 364 ratings · 106 reviews

A haunting and provocative debut.’ – Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Orphan Train

The house brought them together, but secrets will tear them apart.

When Betty Gardiner dies, leaving behind an unkempt country home, her grandson and his young wife take a break from city life to prepare the house for sale. Nowell Gardiner leaves first to begin wo ...more

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Paperback, 312 pages

Published June 17th 2014 by HarperCollins Authonomy (first published January 31st 2012)

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Sep 26, 2013 Sandy Hall rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: chick-lit, contemporary, mystery-thriller

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jun 16, 2014 Elizabeth of Silver's Reviews rated it really liked it

Strange situations, strange characters, lots of secrets, and a small town.

QUALITIES OF WOOD has all of the above and more. It mainly includes a beautiful, flowing writing style and an interesting storyline. The author masterfully keeps you wondering about the makeup of each character and the secrets that you know they are keeping.

You will follow the main characters, Vivian and Nowell, through their present lives as well as their pasts. As Vivian and Nowell settle into a family home they are ...more

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Aug 16, 2015 Bridget Johnson (Jameson) rated it did not like it

I wish I could give this zero stars.

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Nov 13, 2017 Patricia Williams rated it liked it

This was a good read, very interesting and different. I won this book a few years ago and just got around to reading it. Very interesting characters and story. Some of the characters are not that likeable but by the end you understand why they act the way they do. One character was introduced without much of an explanation near the end of the book. She had been in the story briefly before but could not understand her relationship. But it was an interesting story and I really wanted to know "what ...more

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Sep 10, 2013 Stevie Carroll rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed-elsewhere

Previously reviewed at The Good the Bad and the Unread:

Having raved about the joys of finding exciting new authors through being offered books to review, I suppose I do have to talk about the downside – the problem of books that turn out to be less fun than I would have hoped from the blurb. The Qualities of Wood isn’t exactly a bad book, and I’m sure it would appear to some readers who aren’t me, but for much of the time reading, it felt like wading through treacle. Actually, make that Golden S Previously reviewed at The Good the Bad and the Unread:

Having raved about the joys of finding exciting new authors through being offered books to review, I suppose I do have to talk about the downside – the problem of books that turn out to be less fun than I would have hoped from the blurb. The Qualities of Wood isn’t exactly a bad book, and I’m sure it would appear to some readers who aren’t me, but for much of the time reading, it felt like wading through treacle. Actually, make that Golden Syrup; treacle brings up too many connotations of traditional remedies rather than something that can be reasonable in small quantities. Sadly, there is too much of it here.

The novel falls somewhere between literary fiction and the more atmospheric end of the mystery genre, although the mystery element is rather disappointing in the end. I’d hesitate to classify it as a romance; the central couple are together at the start, and while there are some very good reasons, in my opinion, for the heroine to tell her husband where to go, she never does, meaning there is no real change in their relationship. I’m not entirely sure it even counts as women’s fiction, as I’d like to see at least a degree of empowerment of the heroine taking place in the context of the story. So, I suppose I’d better summarise the story and let other potential readers decide for themselves on this one.

The story opens with Vivian meeting up with her husband Nowell for the first time in four weeks. Nowell is an author, who has thus far had one book published, although I don’t think we ever find out what he did for a living before receiving his advance for that. He’s working on a second book, and Vivian has given up her job in the city to help him fix up the house that belonged to Nowell’s deceased grandmother. Nowell has supposedly been working on the house with his brother in Vivian’s absence, but now he’s going to work on his second book while she works on the house. In actual fact, neither of them seems to do much for a large proportion of the book other than befriend, or become suspicious of, the various inhabitants of the nearby small town and, in Vivian’s case, ponder whether the death of a local girl on the edge of their land was really an accident.

For much of the book, I really wanted to slap Vivian for the way she just goes along with her husband’s wishes and makes horribly insensitive comments to and about her neighbours, as well as about people with disabilities (okay, there’s just one example of that, but it nearly made me stop reading). Nowell’s brother comes to stay, bringing his new wife, and they turn out to be equally slapable. None of the women have jobs, and they seem to spend a fair bit of their time drinking cocktails, leading me to wonder whether this part of the US Midwest was either stuck in a 1950s Ad Executive’s daydream or actually a 21st Century Stepford.

The real squick for me, though, comes right towards the end when Nowell admits to Vivian that he had met and been attracted to the girl who died, and she just shrugs it off. Checking back, the girl is reported as being 17, but from the way she is referred to – especially with the parallels to Vivian’s childhood – she comes across to me as being younger.

Admittedly, the book does pick up its pace in the penultimate chapters, only to slow down again right at the end, but I really feel that nothing in it serves to move the characters forward or cause major developments in their characters or relationships, and so I feel I can’t recommend it to anyone I actually know. ...more

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May 26, 2014 Caitlin rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2014

Anton Chekov is a favorite of mine whose gun is a valuable dramatic principle that resonates in good theatre, but in all other things as well. Chekov wrote:

Remove everything that has no relevance to the story. If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there.

I think of it often in terms of set design. A good designer knows better than to put anything on ...more

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May 25, 2014 Christie rated it it was ok

The Qualities of Wood is Vivian Gardiner’s story. She has given up her life in the city to join her husband, Nowell, in a small town where they will live in the house he inherited from his grandmother. The plan is that they’ll do some cosmetic work to the property and in a year or so, sell it. Nowell will also use the time to work on his second mystery novel. On the day Vivian arrives at the Gardiner homestead the body of a teenage girl is found in the woods at the back of their property. Althou The Qualities of Wood is Vivian Gardiner’s story. She has given up her life in the city to join her husband, Nowell, in a small town where they will live in the house he inherited from his grandmother. The plan is that they’ll do some cosmetic work to the property and in a year or so, sell it. Nowell will also use the time to work on his second mystery novel. On the day Vivian arrives at the Gardiner homestead the body of a teenage girl is found in the woods at the back of their property. Although her death is almost immediately ruled accidental, it still seems to be the sun around which all the players in this novel orbit. All that sounds promising, right?

I liked this novel when I started reading it. Mary Vensel White is a lovely writer and there were several moments in the novel where I lingered over her words. For example:

They turned at the back corner of the house and the open space hit her like a deep breath.

So my issues with the book don’t have anything to do with the quality of the writing - unlike the quality of the wood. My issues have to do with pacing and characterization. And I am a reader who can generally read books that don’t have much of a forward thrust.

Okay – so Vivian arrives at this run-down house. She and Nowell, who have only been married for about four years, have been separated for four weeks. It’s going to take some adjusting. Soon enough they seem to fall into this pattern. Nowell gets up early and gets to work in a little space he has partitioned off from the rest of the kitchen with a sheet. Vivian alternately lazes about or works at sorting through the lifetime of junk Grandma Gardiner left behind. The reader is treated to a laundry list of this detritus: “used paperback romances, sewing things and scraps of fabric, and entire box of plastic silverware, plates and cups.” There’s dressers full of clothes and other personal items. There’s even a gun, which seems promising – but sadly isn’t used to kill anyone.

And I think that’s my main complaint about The Qualities of Wood. There’s no mystery here. Vivian is stuck in a small, unfamiliar town with a husband who becomes increasingly strange to her. But she’s strange, too. I never really warmed up to either of them – or any of the characters for that matter. When Nowell’s brother, Lonnie, and his new bride, Dot, show up it just ups the ante of strange behaviour. The narrative alternates between Vivian doing mundane things like subscribing to the local newspaper, visiting with her new friend Katherine and running a three-day yard sale (and did we really need to hear about all three days?) and breaking into her neighbour’s house in the middle of the night. Okay, sure Mr. Stokes is odd, but Vivian this is not the behaviour of a rational person; you know that, right?

There’s also some back story – like the time Vivian got lost in the woods (I thought that was going somewhere) and the time she snuck out of her house to go to a party (so is this, then, meant to be a novel about someone who barely had a chance to rebel and now she’s married and her husband is pressuring her to have kids and she just wants to be free?) In some ways I think part of my dissatisfaction with this novel is that there’s too much going on. Some of it feels like filler (like describing Katherine’s driving skills) and some of it feels like unrealized potential (glimpses into Nowell’s latest novel). Either way, I was ready to pack it in at page 100.

If The Qualities of Wood is meant to be about secrets, as the blurb on the back of the novel claims it is, they better be worth spilling. When all is revealed in the novel’s final pages, none of what is exposed makes up for the minutiae the reader has plodded through to get there.

...more

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May 31, 2014 gautami rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2014-reading-challenge, 2014-gautami, 2014-reviews, 2014-book-blogger-summer-reading

Vivian has been married for 4 years to Nowell and she leaves her job in the city to join her husband at his Grandmother’s house in the countryside. Nowell has taken a break from his work and now writing his second mystery novel. Both are preparing the house for sale. Soon after Vivian arrives, the Sheriff finds a body of a young girl, living in the neighbour. Vivian meets Katharine, who becomes a close friend. Nowell’s brother Lonnie and his new bride Dorothy too arrive.

With time in her hand, V ...more

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Jun 07, 2014 Beth Cutwright rated it really liked it

The Characters were strong in their own right and no one was who they seemed to the main character Vivian. I felt that she had big city paranoia. She felt that Abe Stokes flirted with her. She was annoyed when a road construction worker, looked at her legs and figure. There was a page or two alluding to an incident with her brother in law, Lonnie. Although these things were mentioned in the book, they played no part in the story. The story started out rather slow but after the first hundred pag ...more

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Mar 21, 2012 Stacey Herrera rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Vivian Gardiner is a city girl at heart. When Vivian and her husband Nowell headed out to the sticks to clean up his grandparent’s home, she knew the country would take some getting used to. But when a young girl is found dead in the woods (practically in their own backyard), Vivian's instincts immediately perk up and she begins to notice everything and everyone around her.

The Qualities of Wood took me completely by surprise. While the cornerstone of the story is the death of a young girl, I fe ...more

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Jun 09, 2014 Bill Wolfe rated it really liked it

Posted 5/26/14 on my blog dedicated to literary fiction by women, www.readherlikeanopenbook.com.

The Qualities of Wood
By Mary Vensel White
Authonomy/HarperCollins; June 17, 2014
312 pages, $14.99 (trade paperback original)

When Nowell Gardiner’s grandmother dies, he and his 28-year-old wife Vivian decide to take a year off from their hectic life in the city and move to her now-empty house outside of a small Midwestern town. Nowell believes the isolation will be conducive to writing his second myste Posted 5/26/14 on my blog dedicated to literary fiction by women, www.readherlikeanopenbook.com.

The Qualities of Wood
By Mary Vensel White
Authonomy/HarperCollins; June 17, 2014
312 pages, $14.99 (trade paperback original)

When Nowell Gardiner’s grandmother dies, he and his 28-year-old wife Vivian decide to take a year off from their hectic life in the city and move to her now-empty house outside of a small Midwestern town. Nowell believes the isolation will be conducive to writing his second mystery novel, and Vivian, who wants to support Nowell’s artistic ambitions, will use the time to relax and clear out Mrs. Gardiner’s belongings. Maybe they’ll stay longer than it takes to clean up the house and sell it. Sounds downright idyllic, doesn’t it?

But the setting proves equally effective at generating tension and isolation between the couple, who have been married only four years. Their nearest neighbor, the reserved 40-something bachelor, Mr. Stokes, lives a long walk away, across the Gardiners’ large rural property and through a small patch of woods. The locals are either overly friendly or taciturn and suspicious.

The discovery of a dead teenage girl in the woods between the Gardiner and Stokes properties turns up the heat on Vivian’s percolating paranoia. Although the girl’s death is ruled an accident, Vivian remains unsettled by the incident’s proximity to her new home. Nowell responds in his usual matter-of-fact manner and shuts himself up in the office to tap away on his laptop all day, leaving Vivian to her simmering suspicions.

Soon, Nowell’s ne’er-do-well younger brother, Lonnie, arrives with his sweet new girlfriend, Dot. The brothers can spend some time together before Lonnie begins a new job, and Dot offers to help Vivian clear out the attic and get the house ready for eventual sale. But Lonnie has a tendency to drink too much and he has a hot temper when provoked. And it soon becomes clear that there is unresolved conflict between the brothers. Is it simply sibling rivalry or is it something more complex and traumatic?

Win a copy of The Qualities of Wood! Leave a comment below for one entry; share the link on Twitter for a second entry (include @Austraphile in your tweet). Three copies are available and the winners will be chosen on Friday, May 30.

We see events mostly from Vivian’s perspective, but the question persists as to whether she is reliable. Was Chanelle Brodie’s death really an accident? If not, what happened out there in the woods that night? Is the killer among them? Is Mr. Stokes hostile and potentially dangerous or just an old-fashioned, laconic outdoorsman? Is Vivian’s new friend Katherine really as nice as she seems or is she covering something up with all that kindness? She is almost too good to be true for a lonely newcomer like Vivian — and she does seem to know everything about everybody in town. Why is Nowell so aloof and secretive, or is he simply preoccupied with the writing of his novel? Is Lonnie a loose cannon or just a rambunctious bear of a guy with a big heart and a taste for beer? Vensel White keeps everything just opaque enough to maintain energy and interest as the plot develops and the pages pass.

The Qualities of Wood is a crisply-told suspense story combined with elements of a more literary character study. Vensel White effectively controls the shifting moods, from mildly ominous to oppressive, and the pacing, which varies from leisurely to pulse-pounding. Her debut novel skillfully examines the power and effect of secrets between lovers, in families, and in communities. Suffice to say, the web of connections between the many characters is more complex than even Vivian could imagine. The resolution of the plot’s many questions (and most of its conflicts) is plausible without being overly obvious, leaving the reader with the satisfying feeling that comes from a well-crafted and intriguing story featuring credible characters one truly cares about. ...more

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Jun 14, 2014 Anna || BooksandBookends rated it really liked it

Shelves: first-reads

I received a copy of this book through Goodreads First Reads giveaways and I'm really thankful and overjoyed to have won a copy too!

This was a really great book and I loved reading it from start to finish. It wasn't at all what I was anticipating, Vivian and Nowell have moved into Nowell's grandmother's house. After his grandmother's passing, they intend to renovate the house in preparation for reselling the house and it's contents. What Vivian doesn't anticipate happening is the death of a seve I received a copy of this book through Goodreads First Reads giveaways and I'm really thankful and overjoyed to have won a copy too!

This was a really great book and I loved reading it from start to finish. It wasn't at all what I was anticipating, Vivian and Nowell have moved into Nowell's grandmother's house. After his grandmother's passing, they intend to renovate the house in preparation for reselling the house and it's contents. What Vivian doesn't anticipate happening is the death of a seventeen year old girl practically in their back garden within days of moving in. If this is what country life is like, it's not too different from the city after all. But was the girl's death an accident or was there something more going on? This isn't so easy to find out when everyone seems to be keeping secrets.

White takes you on the mystery of a lifetime, there are so many trails that Vivian begins investigating as a reader you begin to suspect everyone. I had my suspicions from the start of reading the book though and in the end they proved to be correct but I found myself doubting them at several times whilst reading, one of the best things a writer can do in a mystery such as this. In fact it was positively dubious if what I thought would unfold was a correct notion at all as the book drew to a conclusion.

At times, however, the pace does slow down somewhat and becomes slightly distracted from the main focus of the book - the mystery - which is why I only gave the book four stars rather than five. It really is an enjoyable read though with suspicions raised at the character's true personalities. What secrets are lurking under the surface? White does an excellent job of uncovering each character's personality, making them all well-rounded and individual with interesting traits which change your perception of them as you read more of the story.

As the book drew to an end, I was thoroughly gripped and struggled to put the book down. White has a lovely, fluid writing style that is easily accessible and engaging from beginning to end. A story that truly shows the power of love, friendship and secrets. I'd really recommend this book to anyone who's a fan of chick-lit romance and mystery. A heartwarming book, that's well worth a read. ...more

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Dec 20, 2011 Catherine MacLeod rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed

The Qualities of Wood

I’ll struggle to convey the mesmerising effect of this stunning debut novel, but I’m going to try. Something about the author’s mastery of language, the gentle rhythm of her sentences, the rich descriptive prose, all combine to create a sense of mystery and intrigue from the first page to the last.

I was transported to the woods behind a white clapperboard house in the American Midwest, and I was lost to them. The story is about Vivian, an artist (and how evident that is in h ...more

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Jul 07, 2014 Maggie Woodward rated it liked it

Vivian and Nowell are four years in to their marriage, and while it's not on the rocks it is clear the honeymoon period is over. So when Nowell inherits a run down home in a small town, it could be the perfect place for them to get their relationship back on track. But while Vivian grapples with small town politics and a loft full of nick-nacks left behind by an old lady, Nowell locks himself away and works on his next murder mystery novel. Throw in Nowell's unpredictable younger brother and his ...more

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May 10, 2014 Terri rated it liked it

Shelves: edelweiss

Review also found at http://kristineandterri.blogspot.ca/

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher Harper Collins Authonomy via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. Thanks! The expected publication date is June 17, 2014.

I have started and stopped writing my thoughts several times. I am really struggling with my opinion on this read. It is easy to pen my thoughts when a book is outstanding or when it is terrible. This one was neither and hence I do not know what to say.
...more

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Mar 18, 2012 Katie O'Rourke rated it really liked it · review of another edition

In Mary Vensel White's debut novel, a young married couple moves to the country to help get a house ready for sale after a death in the family. Vivian joins her husband Nowell after he spends the first month alone and the day after she arrives, they learn that a dead girl has been found in the woods on their property.

The girl's death is ruled an accident, but this never fully satisfies Vivian. I read nearly the entire book without being sure if it was a murder mystery or simply an examination of ...more

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Sep 28, 2013 Tina rated it really liked it · review of another edition

The Qualities of Wood is a magnificently written debut novel by Mary Vensel White.

Nowell Gardiner's grandmother has recently died, and he has inherited her old, neglected house in the country. He and his wife Vivian decide to leave the city for awhile to get the house ready to be sold. Nowell, who is a writer, arrives first so he can work on his new novel without interruption. Vivian arrives a month later, and the day after she gets there, the dead body of a girl is found in the woods on the pro ...more

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Jun 05, 2014 Chrissy (The Every Free Chance Reader) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: reviewed-by-blog-contributor

Did I enjoy this book: Yes, very much.

Mary Vensel White is to literature what Norah Jones is to music – subtle, haunting, and engaging.

The Qualities of Wood is a murder mystery without car crashes, gunshots, or ballistics experts. It’s more psychological and creepy.

About half way through the book, there’s an exchange between our main character, Vivian, and the dead girl’s mother, Kitty. “The thing is, you looked like her, like my Chanelle.” It sent chills down my arms because that was the moment ...more

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Aug 28, 2014 Jenny rated it it was ok

Shelves: book-club

2.5 stars. 2 feels harsh and 3 feels unearned. The prose is lovely in sections, but the plot was...let's say underdeveloped. Lots of threads were introduced and never followed up on, and the final scene felt forced and didn't resolve much of anything. I was pretty disappointed with that, honestly, because the book did feel as though it was building to some kind of point, but it was not. As I try to pinpoint my frustration, I think it has to do with the lack of character growth. The characters se ...more

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Mar 20, 2015 Denise Vasak rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2015

This book should NOT be filed under Mystery - at least not in the true sense of the word. This is a book with a lot of woods and a lot of characters that aren't truly developed. Threads of this story seem to be dropped and randomly picked up throughout. Vivian has a friend we spend a lot of the beginning of the book with her. Then she just disappears when Vivian's brother-in-law and his wife appear. We have NO real sense of time in most of this novel. Another instance of people disappearing? The ...more

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May 09, 2014 Antonio Marrero Jr rated it really liked it

I really enjoyed this book, the story was interesting and the characters had a mystery about them that kept me even more motivated to keep reading just to find out what they were hiding. Mary Vensel White did an amazing job describing the setting and building a certain strange yet comfortable vibe to the story. The way she wrote this is very misleading (but in a good way), making me draw conclusions that weren't there but made sense in the end. I had only two problems with the book, sometimes I ...more

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Apr 10, 2012 Paula Margulies rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A well-written debut novel about a young woman, Vivian Gardiner, who struggles with decisions about her marriage, career, and the possibility of children while staying with her husband, a mystery novelist, in a house owned by his grandmother in a small Midwestern town rife with legends and history. A murder is committed in the woods next to the house, and when Vivian's volatile brother-in-law and wife come for an extended stay, the tension grows. There are a number of mysterious characters in th ...more

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Nov 29, 2015 Debra rated it it was ok

Shelves: fiction-suspense

I stayed up late last night to finish this book, because it was hanging around just too long. For some reason, once I started it, I was not particularly eager to continue reading. And for good reason. The story goes nowhere. It's supposed to be suspense, and I labelled it that way, but really the suspense is rather underwhelming. I like books about people inheriting houses and then working on them, which is what initially drew me to the book. Turns out, that was not what this book was about. It ...more

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Apr 30, 2012 Casee Marie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The Qualities of Wood is a striking novel that moves leisurely through its story. Mary Vensel White cultivates a unique impression through beautiful prose, matching the expansive and unmarred countryside setting with her tranquil storytelling and thoughtful, intriguing characters. There’s an element to the book that separates it from anything else the reader has ever known, offering an exciting reading experience that touches the heart and engages the spirit as it stimulates the mind.

Read the fu ...more

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Oct 24, 2012 Judy Adams rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Anyone who enjoys a good read!

Recommended to Judy by: Frank Kusy

Shelves: the-qualities-of-wood

Mary Vensel White has a warm, inviting narrative voice. Within moments of beginning The Qualities of Wood, one feels one is in the hands of a master storyteller. The dialogue is well-conceived and intriguing. The story is compelling, the descriptive passages land you squarely inside this thought-provoking tale. I don't wish to give anything away with this review, it's best to discover everything on ones own! Suffice to say that in spite of an unexplained death, this is less a crime novel, and mo ...more

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Aug 30, 2018 Elice Mcneely rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Pointless

This has to be one of the most pointless books I have ever read.

After reading the whole thing, I wish I could get back the time I spent reading this.

From the beginning this book gives you an impression of this darker undertone that is actually nonexistent.

I didn't care for any of the characters, the ending was horrible and just stupid

Save yourself your money and your time and don't bother reading ...more

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Dec 26, 2011 Lisa Bernstein rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I thoroughly enjoyed being taken away by Mary Vensel White's debut novel. Her vivid descriptions of scenery and detail drew me in and captivated me from beginning to end. I will be keeping my eye out for more books by this promising new author! ...more

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Feb 09, 2013 Jessica Degarmo rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

There is an exquisite, haunting tone to this book I found mesmerizing. The plot kept me guessing, and Ms. Vensel White's characters were deeply layered, multidimensional and real. I would highly recommend this stunning piece of literary fiction. ...more

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Jun 01, 2013 Jaime Boler rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: june-2013

Interview with Mary Vensel White,
Author of The Qualities of Wood

Jaime Boler: Thank you so much, Mary, for letting me interview you. I loved your haunting and atmospheric debut. Did you always want to be a writer?

Mary Vensel White: Thank you, both for reading and enjoying the novel, and for inviting me to your lovely blog! The writing sort of evolved around my decision to study literature.

I was attending a tiny junior college in Stockton, California, taking classes towards becoming a paralegal. ...more

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Jul 13, 2019 Deedra rated it liked it

Audible:It was a good story.This was a weird one to rate.I liked the story,though it seemed undone.Vivian seems to have grown a year in a matter of a month or so.She is clearing out her husband grandmothers house,she runs into mysteries,also there is the dead girl in the woods to think about.The ending was abrupt after this long ,winding saga.Amy Paonessa had an oddly paced way of reading.Had she picked it up and cut ah hour off the book,it may have been better.She has a nice voice though.I also ...more

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About Mary Vensel White

Mary Vensel White

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Mary Vensel White's writing has appeared in Catapult, The Madison Review, The Rumpus, The Write Launch, The Wisconsin Review and other places. Her debut novel, The Qualities of Wood, was the first release from HarperCollins's Authonomy imprint. Her novel-in-moments, Bellflower, was published in 2019.

Vensel White currently lives in southern California with her four children. ...more