cover image Something Good

Something Good

Fiona Gibson. Red Dress Ink, $13.95 (346pp) ISBN 978-0-373-89557-1

It's all good in Gibson's luminous portrait of a splintered family that still remains connected in spirit. After Jane Deakin catches husband Max cheating on her, she separates from him and she and daughter Hannah move out. Ten years later, Jane and Max are still not officially divorced, Jane works in childcare while nursing a stained glass sideline, and 15-year-old Hannah is a budding thespian with a crush on Ollie, a fellow workshop actor. As Max begins exclusively dating Veronica, a posh neighbor (with two children near Hannah's age, Zoe and Dylan), Jane decides to attend a stained glass workshop led by an artist she admires in Scotland. Jane takes along Hannah and Zoe (who teaches Hannah the charms of minor teenage rebellion) plus Jane's mum, Nancy, for an unexpectedly transformative experience. Gibson (Lucky Girl) lightly but perceptively handles both adult and adolescent characters, making this a great book for both mothers and teens.