(Subdue) A Beginner's Guide to Free Fall by Andy Abramowitz - 5 stars

[Ellen]

Davis Winger and his sister Molly are about to have a life-changing summer. Davis is a gifted engineer who designs roller coasters, is in love with his wife and dotes on his 6-year old daughter Rachel. It all comes to a screeching halt when a minor accident at an amusement park causes an injury on a ride Davis designed. As his professional life hangs in limbo his personal life hits a possible messy ending when a shameful secret from Davis' past mistakenly comes to light. Out of a job and out of his house, Davis begins a serious reevaluation of his life.

Molly writes feature articles for a local Baltimore free newspaper. Self-confidence is not a concept she is familiar with so she spends her time with a much younger, incompatible boyfriend and constantly wonders why her mother abandoned the family when Molly and Davis were just children. That loss has influenced her life in many ways, both seen and unseen, even though the siblings' father was an attentive and loving parent. Molly has begun to see that she is far from the only woman who was abandoned by a mother and she begins a series of articles in which she interviewed others in her predicament.

Although the book may sound like a downer there is so much humor in the pages. I love the relationship between Davis and Molly and both of their characters are wonderful. I must say that the book has one of the best first lines I've ever read: "Four months from now, on a secluded beach in Turkey, Davis Winger, who came thousands of miles to start over, will drop his towel and paperback on the sand, wade into the sea, and end up under the tire of a Hyundai that has just come screeching over an embankment." How could you not want to know what led up to that? Loved it!