Review of Deceptive Calm
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Heather Uczynski
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Review of Deceptive Calm
[Following is a volunteer review of "Deceptive Calm" by Patricia Skipper.]
I enjoyed reading this book, but don't think the title accurately reflects the book's content, despite its being referenced in the story. I think a much better title could've been chosen for this book. For example, something like 'Orphan Girl' or 'From Orphan to Anchorwoman' would have been more to the point.
This is a love story set in a time of racial unrest and Martial Law in Charleston, South Carolina. The author provides readers with well-developed, interesting characters as well as realistic dialogue. The book held my interest throughout, and the plot featured some unexpected twists. Comic relief is provided by Sister Rosalie, a larger-than-life nun with a vast knowledge of Confederate history, which she never tires of talking about with anyone who will listen. Sister Roe runs a Black orphanage, where the main character, Vanessa, spends her entire childhood. Vanessa was never adopted due to the lightness of her skin color, which made her appear to be White.
Themes of first love, motherhood, betrayal, deception, illegal abortion, and attempted murder are all contained in this book, yet it never seemed contrived. In 1968, the horrified characters react to the murder of Reverend Martin Luther King with shock, sadness, and disbelief. Surprisingly, the date of King's assassination was incorrectly identified as April 3rd instead of the correct date of April 4th, 1968.
After being betrayed by her first love, Vanessa moves on but never really recovers from the grief of this betrayal nor the loss of the only mother she had ever known, Sister Rosalie. Vanessa and her best friend graduate from college as journalists and never return to Charleston, the end result of too many bad memories.
Vanessa ends up in San Francisco, California, working as the first female news anchor at a television station and her best friend, Trisha, eventually moves there as well to work in television sales. Both women are successful in their careers, with Vanessa becoming a well-known and beloved figure in her town.
Although Vanessa never forgets her first love, she can never forgive him either. She reluctantly allows herself to be relentlessly pursued by a man from one of the wealthiest families in the area, Tod Von Westerkamp, whom she eventually marries despite not feeling any physical attraction toward him.
Not surprisingly, Vanessa's marriage is not what she expects, despite being blessed with a baby boy. She agrees to quit a job she loves to care for her baby at the insistence of her husband. Vanessa manages to keep her real identity secret until near the end of the book, when everything collapses into chaos and the shocking ending reveals how despicable her husband and his family really are.
******
Deceptive Calm
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
I enjoyed reading this book, but don't think the title accurately reflects the book's content, despite its being referenced in the story. I think a much better title could've been chosen for this book. For example, something like 'Orphan Girl' or 'From Orphan to Anchorwoman' would have been more to the point.
This is a love story set in a time of racial unrest and Martial Law in Charleston, South Carolina. The author provides readers with well-developed, interesting characters as well as realistic dialogue. The book held my interest throughout, and the plot featured some unexpected twists. Comic relief is provided by Sister Rosalie, a larger-than-life nun with a vast knowledge of Confederate history, which she never tires of talking about with anyone who will listen. Sister Roe runs a Black orphanage, where the main character, Vanessa, spends her entire childhood. Vanessa was never adopted due to the lightness of her skin color, which made her appear to be White.
Themes of first love, motherhood, betrayal, deception, illegal abortion, and attempted murder are all contained in this book, yet it never seemed contrived. In 1968, the horrified characters react to the murder of Reverend Martin Luther King with shock, sadness, and disbelief. Surprisingly, the date of King's assassination was incorrectly identified as April 3rd instead of the correct date of April 4th, 1968.
After being betrayed by her first love, Vanessa moves on but never really recovers from the grief of this betrayal nor the loss of the only mother she had ever known, Sister Rosalie. Vanessa and her best friend graduate from college as journalists and never return to Charleston, the end result of too many bad memories.
Vanessa ends up in San Francisco, California, working as the first female news anchor at a television station and her best friend, Trisha, eventually moves there as well to work in television sales. Both women are successful in their careers, with Vanessa becoming a well-known and beloved figure in her town.
Although Vanessa never forgets her first love, she can never forgive him either. She reluctantly allows herself to be relentlessly pursued by a man from one of the wealthiest families in the area, Tod Von Westerkamp, whom she eventually marries despite not feeling any physical attraction toward him.
Not surprisingly, Vanessa's marriage is not what she expects, despite being blessed with a baby boy. She agrees to quit a job she loves to care for her baby at the insistence of her husband. Vanessa manages to keep her real identity secret until near the end of the book, when everything collapses into chaos and the shocking ending reveals how despicable her husband and his family really are.
******
Deceptive Calm
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: McDowell by William H. Coles
