Libby and her two school-aged children have been living with her mother — with whom she has a somewhat strained relationship — for two years, since she lost her home after her husband died suddenly. She gets a letter out of the blue from her aunt Jean inviting them to come live on her goat farm in the country, because she needs help.
Libby has only known her as “crazy Aunt Jean,” as characterized by her mother, who is completely estranged from her. But Libby is ready for a change, so she packs up the family and heads to Atwater, Texas. Once she gets there, she is encountered with quirky characters including her Aunt Jean, the shaggy reclusive farmhand O’Connor, and Sunshine, who is full of quirks. One thing all these have in common is secrets. Good secrets always help pull the plot of a novel along, and Katherine Center doles out the answers bit by bit.
The setting of the goat farm, plus Libby’s “fish out of water” experience (though she and the children adjust pretty quickly and seamlessly), added to the novel, and as always Katherine Center’s writing shines.
Looking over this review, getting it ready to post since it publishes this week, I’ve reflected a bit on The Lost Husband since I initially finished the book last month. The characters and the setting have stuck with me. I think one of the reasons I wasn’t totally bowled over by it is because it was a victim of high expectations that weren’t quite met. It was a good light read, but I was missing the “something more” that pushes a novel from good to great.
The bar was set high, and I will still definitely check out future novels by Katherine Center, because her novel Everyone Is Beautiful was the kind that did hit all the notes — a story of a woman’s growth and self-exploration, marriage, friendship, motherhood — and it was laugh-out-loud funny. Dawn and I liked it so much that we did an online Everyone is Beautiful bookclub and invited you to join in with us.
CONTENT NOTE: In comparing these books and thinking about the bookclub, I know that some were put off by some harsh language in that book, but as far as I remember, The Lost Husband is relatively free of language and sexual content. I actually appreciated that quite a bit.