The sense that life is beyond her control is terrifying for Maggie Finley. 8 months pregnant, recently returned to her small hometown in Wisconsin, Maggie is gripped with fear after having given birth to a stillborn child 2 years previously. She responds to stress by ratcheting up the tension. She fights with her husband and best friend; she cancels doctor’s appointments while sitting in the waiting room. And, primarily, she starts a Neighborhood Watch and spends a lot of time obsessing over the website listing registered sex offenders. When she finds one living only a block or two away, she goes into overdrive.
How she responds to this real but potential danger is mystifying to those closest to her. On the one hand, she flirts with an unemployed neighbor/handyman. On the other hand, she goes out in pajamas in the dead of night to sabotage the house of the sex offender. Her loved ones try to help, but ultimately Maggie is the only person who can help herself.
Although these topics sound heavy, On Maggie’s Watch deals with these issues in a manner that manages to keep things relatively light. You will smile as Maggie makes up to-do lists: 1. Get control of life 2. Be nice to my husband. 3. Plant mums. She’s neurotic, but she’s lovable, and the book is often funny. I love the mental image of her heavily pregnant body negotiating some of her middle-of-the-night escapades, and when she tries to egg her nemesis’ house and accidentally throws hard-boiled eggs, which bounce on the grass and leave her terrified of fingerprints, I laughed out loud.
In contrast to Maggie, her best-friend-since-kindergarten Julia is dealing with 2 small boys and a potential pregnancy. She tries to provide a voice of reason. Both women are dealing with memories of their past, but it isn’t until Maggie learns to look beyond the surface and face up to the truth that she is able to free herself from her irrational desire to be in control of the uncontrollable.
Elizabeth is proud to say that she has never taken a bike ride at 3 a.m. while 8 months pregnant in order to sabotage a sex offender’s house. She promises! Read some of what she has gotten up to at her blog, Planet Nomad.
Ann Wertz Garvin says
Elizabeth,
I just now saw this review and I just wanted to say thank you and I’m glad you liked On Maggie’s Watch. I love that it made you laugh even amidst all the nuttiness of Maggie’s.
My best to you,
Ann