The story starts in Bakersfield, CA, in 1977, and a massive dust storm is whipping up. For 13-year-old Jenny, she gets a life-threatening illness from it, and it takes months before she recovers, help out by her Grandmother, Uncle Gino, who has been like a father to her all her life and her best friend Henry. Her mother is an alcoholic, and her father does the best he can, but he’s weak. When she recovers, she starts dating Billy, and by the time they are to graduate and go off to college, they make a seven-year plan to marry, until she catches him cheating on her. We then follow Jenny over many years through college, getting her law license, running into Billy again a few years later, and her ups and downs, to losing loved ones, to finding love again, and Jenny must come to terms with what her life was and what it can be. This is an excellent character-driven novel. You root for Jenny right from the beginning, and go on an amazing ride with her through her life, and a shocking secret. I couldn’t put this one down.
You can pick up Belonging in stores on Tuesday, January 30th.
