REVIEW: Driftwood by Elizabeth Dutton

[ghostpixie]

I wasn’t sure about this book at first. Driftwood started out slow, and really rather boring, I thought. I almost didn’t give it a chance, after the first chapter. But oh, how I am glad I did.

Driftwood is about the adult daughter of a rock star. Clem (short for Clementine) Jasper isn’t sure what she wants out of life. She’s just sort of floating along- like driftwood, perhaps. So when her father, Tommy Jasper, lead singer for the fictional rock band Condor, dies unexpectedly, Clem is understandably shaken up.

Upon the reading of Tommy’s will, Clem receives a set of letters written by her father. These letters instruct her to go on a road trip up and down her home state of California, discovering places and people and things that were important to Tommy, from the time he was young up until he died. Clem sets out on this journey, unsure of what she’ll find, unsure of whether she’ll find anything at all.

I’ve never read a book like this, really. Clem’s voice was so refreshing and honest, a welcome change to the contrived leading ladies of some books I’ve read in the past. The letters from Tommy were hilarious but also poignant, and gave a great glimpse into this man who we never actually met in the novel.

As I was reading, becoming complacent in the happy ending I was sure would occur, a couple intense twists rocked my boat, so to speak, and left me nearly in tears. Of course I won’t say what these were, but man oh man, were they hard-hitting.

Driftwood made me think. It made me laugh, (nearly) cry, and even made me cringe in some spots. It was a very worth-it read, and I look forward to (hopefully) reading more by this wonderful author. I’m rating this book 3.5 stars out of 4, simply for the fact that I personally don’t like epilogues, and this novel has one.

Rating: 3.5/4