This story is kind of miserable, a creeping, mundane misery. I sympathized with the major characters, while also finding them all unlikable and exhausting. It’s very real, the ways they are horrible to each other, but I wish it had led to something, good or bad, but something more.
The book is a mixed bag for me. I like seeing imperfect characters get worse under stress and the ways people can love each other and never really understand each other or find the right way to fit in each other’s lives. There are points in the story where that is done well, but there are others where it’s too much. There are areas where I wish the fat had been trimmed.
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I received a free reading copy of Montpelier Tomorrow by Marylee MacDonald through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. Thank you to the author/publisher!
I had a few different reasons for requesting it and reading it. First, the name of one of Vermont’s few cities in the title gives it a New England connection; second, it’s a novel of family drama, which I like; third, it’s from the perspective of a mother with adult children, which I am; and, fourth, the catalyst for the story was a son-in-law’s diagnosis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a devastating disease that currently has no cure and that I have a close family member suffering from.
Montpelier Tomorrow made me think about the different ways people respond to tragic, life-changing situations, in particular a diagnosis of ALS. Unfortunately, I didn’t connect well with the character of Colleen (The novel is from her point of view) and, of course, the subject/themes of the book are difficult to get the tone right on. Possibly I wanted all the characters to respond to their situations with grace and humor after the initial shock, and the author was trying for a more realistic portrait of a mother-daughter relationship that was already shaky.
Author Marylee Macdonald has also published a memoir and a collection of short stories that I plan to look for, as I enjoyed many parts of this novel, even though it didn't gel as a whole for me. This story might go over better with a different reader, maybe one not as familiar with ALS, as it does raise awareness of the disease's swift progression and devastating effects.
To help fund research into a cure for ALS, visit the ALS Association, ALS One, or one of the other nonprofits with this mission.
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When Life Interrupts Plans

“Is it permanent?” Kevin’s mother, Colleen asks when her adult son gets a new teaching job after a period of unemployment.

Kevin answers, “Nothing’s permanent.” That’s one of many insights about life, love, employment, and caregiving in Marylee MacDonald’s insightful novel Montpelier Tomorrow. Everything can change in a heartbeat and MacDonald looks deeply into the changes a medical crisis can create in any family.

When Colleen Gallagher’s son-in-law is diagnosed with ALS, Colleen goes half-way across the country to spend her summer vacation helping her daughter, Sandy, in any way she can. Colleen is handy with a paint brush or a screwdriver and having lived through the premature death of her husband, Rob, she wants to offer all the support that she can.

ALS aka Lou Gherig’s disease steals an individual’s ability to move his muscles, and drains family caregivers of energy and joy. Add in two pre-school children watching their father die, and you have a prescription for the kind of disaster that life randomly throws out. Caregiving chores, envelopes with windows, staying employed for the insurance, and lack of privacy are some of the challenges to trust and resilience.

What redeems this story? Family bonds that stretch, bend and occasionally twist but never break. The author deals thoroughly and honestly with the pain that loved ones can impose on one another, long-buried resentments, and the level of forgiveness that wise families give freely.

As a former caregiver, I identified with Colleen’s feelings and her daughter’s. In the 1990s the only book I could find about caregiving was The 36-Hour Day. McDonald’s well-written, heart-wrenching story would have shown me how to strengthen bonds and boundaries. It’s a gift to any caregiver who ever felt alone or misunderstood.

Whether you read this as a caregiver or a patient, a mother or a daughter, or as someone interested in the struggles caregivers face, you’ll come away with a new appreciation of unpaid family caregivers. I strongly recommend this for medical professionals, mothers and daughters with unresolved issues, and caregivers as well as the curious. ( )

This is a gut-wrenching read, although the subject matter alone would tell you that.

My biggest takeaway was the emotional roller coaster, with moments on intense anger, deep sorrow, levity, and the general monotony of everyday life falling one after the other as quickly as you can turn this page. While I recognize the realism of this style, and even appreciated the way that conversations and events feel like they pre-exist the written words on the page (like they would if you were meeting a real family), it also made for a reading experience that was sometimes very difficult. ( )

Quite the engaging book - fully-drawn characters in a wide range of situations amid serious medical situation(s). And they're likeable people, flashing moment to moment from delightful to awful, but written so it happens naturally. This author is well-versed in writing techniques to build up tension and create unexpected twists - even the title is a subconscious clue - or so you think . . . A long read, sometimes light, sometimes not, but moves along well. ( )