Knox and Charlotte Bolling, in Losing Charlotte by Heather Clay, are sisters who grew up on a successful Kentucky horse farm. Just as a mare and stallion can produce a potential Derby winner one year and a knock-kneed foal the next, Knox and Charlotte could not be more different from one another. Knox is a dependable homebody, who spends much of her time trying to keep her life from changing. Her inertia is exhausting. Beautiful Charlotte has spent her life trying to separate herself from her family, moving to New York and into a bohemian lifestyle. Charlotte seems capable of manipulating any situation so that life revolves around her. Although Knox is the younger of the two, she has taken on the role of Charlotte’s rescuer. Love, jealousy, guilt, fear and nostalgia are just a few of the emotions seasoning the stew of the relationships in this story, and the pot boils over with the tragic death of Charlotte. Her husband, Bruce is left with infant twin boys to raise, and Knox, of course, steps in to help.
Losing Charlotte left me feeling vaguely uneasy. An undercurrent of tension was buzzing in the background, and I couldn’t quite figure out why Charlotte was so rebellious and difficult. She grew up in a family that loved each other and her, but apparently not in the way she needed. Frankly, I didn’t feel much sympathy for her! On the other hand, the author made Charlotte’s husband very easy to understand and empathize with. Overall the characters are well developed, but background and motivation behind their behavior is sometimes a little thin.
Heather Clay’s first novel took me deep into the lives of a loving but complicated family. I am sure that each reader will recognize someone they know in her characters. It was a good reminder that you can choose your friends but not your family, so you’d better make the best of it!
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