Maybe This Time

Maybe you’ve read a book written by Jennifer Crusie before, or even one that she’s collaborated with other authors on, so you won’t need to me to tell you much about her style or wit. Or maybe you’re like me, somehow unaware of any of her previous novels, and her new book Maybe This Time might be your introduction to her work. Maybe you’ll chuckle as much as I did, and find yourself remarking that this is like no other ghost story you’ve read before.

Andie Miller, whose full first name is the beautiful and unique Andromeda, opens the story as she visits her ex-husband’s law office to return an entire decade’s worth of alimony checks. Her short marriage to the uber-successful, hard-working North Archer feels like a lifetime ago, and the swirl of emotions that surrounded that time has given way to a calmer, more rational-feeling life now as she prepares to plan a second marriage to a very stable, very “genial” man. (Crusie’s perfect word choice, not one that I can lay claim to.) Although Andie may not be willing to admit it, even to herself, there is a whole lot of unspoken business between her and North, and the same can be said of North’s perspective, as well.

Somehow, in the course of the few minutes in which she planned to forever sever their connection, Andie finds herself agreeing to help North with a family problem. Two children of a distant cousin are in need a live-in nanny at the old family house that was brought to southern Ohio from England in the nineteenth century. The children have driven off several nannies so far, and there’s something just odd about the whole situation. North asks for a month of Andie’s assistance as a personal favor, and for reasons she doesn’t fully understand, she agrees. The story that follows presents a creepy house full of secrets, many of which Andie cannot conceive of being real, along with an endearing story of a woman intent on reaching two children who are in desperate need of some normalcy and love.

I didn’t think much about it when I packed this novel in my bag for a family camping trip, but when I reflected upon it, I realized that perhaps a ‘ghost story’ wasn’t the best choice to read whilst living outdoors for a weekend. I’m happy to report that while a bit suspenseful, this ghost story never terrified, but did in fact make me laugh more than once. I quickly figured out that I like Crusie’s wit and way of making characters’ words and thoughts sound so very realistic. A bit of a love story mixed with an old house, a few angry ghosts and a couple of surly (understandingly so) children make for an entertaining novel in Maybe This Time.

Dawn’s hands may very well be holding a book at this moment. Or maybe they’re tapping away on the keys of her netbook as she blogs away at my thoughts exactly.