Lorrie Thomson’s debut novel Equilibrium is a poignant novel that is quite hopeful despite the serious subject matter. It is an engaging story of new beginnings for Laura Klein and her children as they continue to struggle with their lingering grief over Jack’s suicide.

Please click HERE to read my review in its entirety. ( )

I was first drawn to this book by the cover and the cover blurb....”Life is a balancing act...” Then I read the synopsis and knew this was a book I had to pick up!

Laura Klein is a widow with two teenaged children. One year ago, her bipolar husband committed suicide, and the family is still struggling with the after effects; not only the affects of his suicide, but also the affects of watching him battle his illness for many years. Laura always has in the back of her mind that the illness may have been passed on to her children, Darcy and Troy, and doesn’t quite realize that her children share this same fear. Darcy is fifteen and going through a rough time. She becomes involved with the new boy, Nick, a ‘bad’ boy, and together they test Laura’s boundaries. Troy is a thoughtful and quiet thirteen year old. As the anniversary of her husband’s death approaches, Laura realizes that the money is running out, and before long she will need to find a job. So when her friend suggests she get a renter, she agrees to rent her husband's former studio apartment to a young and attractive emergency room doctor, who quickly becomes more than a tenant.

The book started out a little slow, especially with the telling of Laura’s history with her husband; how they met and their stuggles with his illness. But the story picked up steam rapidly. Towards the end, there was even a bit of suspense involving Darcy and Nick. The book spent a lot of time on the relationship of Laura and Darcy, and their feelings. I would have liked to have seen a bit more of Troy and what he was thinking and feeling. Sometimes he was ‘just there’ in the background, not really doing much to move the story along. I also would have liked to have learned more about Darcy’s friends, Cam and Heather, and where their friendship with Darcy was headed at the end of the book. And I REALLY would have liked to have known more about what happened with Nick. He may have been my favorite character in the book; a ‘typical bad boy’ but underneath it all, a good, but very confused, kid.

This would make an excellent book club selection. There is plenty to dicuss with subjects ranging from mental illness to abuse to tough teen issues like drugs, alcohol, and sex. There are also questions at the end of the book to help guide your discussion.

My Rating: ★★★1/2 3-1/2 Stars

SOURCE: I received a copy of this book through TLC Book Tours in return for an honest review! ( )

For all the understanding we have now of our bodies and how they work, in many ways, our brains are still mostly a mystery. We're learning and studying and making advancements every day but the 3 pounds of grey matter shut away in our skulls still harbors secrets that we haven't unlocked. When a brain is functioning as we expect, it is an amazing and complex organ. But when it doesn't function as we'd like, such as in the case of mental illness, it takes on a baffling and sometimes heartbreaking complexity. And while we do the best we can with mental illness, because so much of it is still beyond us, it can devastate a person's life and the lives of their loved ones too. This is very definitely the case in Lorrie Thomson's debut novel, Equilibrium, where a family is having to learn to live in the aftermath of bipolar husband and father Jack's suicide a year prior to the events of the book.

Laura Klein and her children Darcy and Troy have barely been holding it together since Jack's death. Each has grieved in their own way, but all of them have been unable to face the whole reality of his suicide. Laura was the famous author's editor having shelved her own desire to write many years ago to not only raise their children but to care for and protect Jack himself so that he could write his successful books. Now that he's gone and her own writing is but a distant memory, all she has is their children and she guards them fiercely, transferring her constant vigilance over her husband to her teenagers, even as they push her away. She worries about them inheriting Jack's bipolar disorder, of not being able to protect them from even more hurts and tragedies life throws in everyone's path. Daughter Darcy, a daddy's girl, misses her father desperately but she can't or doesn't want to talk to her mother about her feelings. Instead, she plunges into a relationship with Nick, falling hard for this randy teenaged boy who is at least as troubled as she is. Meanwhile younger brother Troy's feelings about his father's suicide threaten to swamp him and he might be exhibiting the first symptoms of the illness that drove his father to end his own life.

With all of these concerns, Laura doesn't have room in her life for anything else. Except that one of her friends, eager to help Laura move on and to find a supplement to the meager income of residual royalties, is pushing her to rent out Jack's old studio office space as an apartment. And the minute Laura reluctantly acquiesces, the perfect renter appears. Aidan Walsh is a ER doctor new to town and looking for a place to live. That he's incredibly sexy is just an unforeseen bonus, one that Laura has no intention of acknowledging or acting on. But Aidan has made no similar promise to himself, inching his way into the Klein family's life by degrees, offering a solid, caring counterpoint to the constant anticipation of disaster that Jack had always inspired. But Laura might not be ready to relinquish her watchful anticipation and Darcy has less than zero interest in a replacement father.

Thomson has written a touching novel about the trying to find balance even with the threat of mental illness hanging over your head. She's captured the fear and the worry of parenting teenagers and how hard it is to let go, especially when you aren't happy with the choices they're making. Laura as a character is stressed and under pressure, so used to the way life was for so long that she doesn't know how to break out of her protective routine. Her panic at finding herself in a relationship unlike anything she's ever experienced definitely rings true. Her anxiety over her children is understandable but seems to come and go a bit inexplicably. Aidan's character is so patient and understanding and constant that he is just too good to be true. Darcy's defiance, hurt, and anger over what she sees as her father's abandonment is palpable throughout the sections focused on her feelings making her increasingly serious involvement with Nick more troubling by the page. Troy is less than well fleshed out, except in Laura's concern for him.

The Kleins struggle and fight and try to honor their past with Jack even as they search for ways to move forward and to be happy despite his loss. A novel about the ravages of mental illness, of relationships, how we choose to live our lives relative to other people and their importance to us, love, and the second chances life sends our way, this tries to balance two very different storylines, parenting and romance, in just the way that so many people try to balance them both in their lives. And if it's not entirely successful with the integration into one seamless tale, with one aspect continually outweighing the other, it is still a moving read. ( )

One year ago, Laura's husband Jack committed suicide after a long battle with bipolar disorder. Laura has spent the year in a fog of grief, wrapping up her husband's affairs and helping her two teenage children to adjust to life without a father. Now, twelve months on, it's time to think about moving on. Semi-reluctantly, she agrees to lease Jack's studio to a handsome doctor. Meanwhile her daughter, Darcy, is embroiled in her first serious romantic relationship with a fellow troubled teen. The book switches between Laura and Darcy's point of view (Laura being referred to as "Mom" in the Darcy chapters) and deals with both women coming to terms with the heritage that Jack's illness has left them with.

This is Lorrie Thomson's first novel and she was inspired in part by her own son's mental illness. The story gets you thinking about the way that someone's mental illness creates long lasting issues for their entire family. For example, Laura is continually alert to potential symptoms in her own children, which causes her significant anxiety. I did feel however that the author tells us too often what is going on in people's heads rather than giving the reader space to make connections of their own. I also never warmed to Laura as a character. She didn't become real to me in the way that Darcy did.

The writing occasionally feels repetitive or clunky. For example, this excerpt: "She couldn't help but sigh, even though it usually irritated her daughter. She couldn't help but love her daughter more than ever. She couldn't help but break into a grin and share the good news."

Nevertheless this is an easy book to read that feels very realistic and is quite thought provoking.

I received this book for review from NetGalley. ( )