Comfort and Joy by Kristin Hannah

          I started this school year reading the beautifully poetic and heart-wrenching Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah.  Since then, I have been searching for another text to affect me in a similar way.  Naturally, my first instinct was to read another novel by this author.  Mrs. Allan put Comfort and Joy into my hands.  I was eager to begin.

            It was clear to me that Comfort and Joy was nothing in comparison to Winter Garden.  In fact, it felt a bit cheesy.  I rarely abandon books because of poor plot, but I almost abandoned this one.  I felt like I was watching the worse movie on Lifetime that was ever produced.  And although this Hannah novel doesn’t hold a candle to my first experience with the author, I am glad I finished it. 

            Ok, the cheesy Lifetime stuff first: Joy (get it? “Joy”/Comfort and Joy) walks in on her husband with another woman…who happens to be her sister Stacey! Can you believe it?  Oh, and guess what?  Stacey is pregnant!  (Puke!)  So, of course, Joy is sad, so so sad, and she impulsively drives to the airport, buys a ticket, and gets on a plane.  She is going to leave her terrible life behind.  And then the plane crashes! Can you believe her luck? 

            Joy wakes up from her plane crash in agonizing pain, bleeding, broken, and confused.  But amazingly, she walks away from the crash scene and the first responders.  She walks and walks until she comes to a bed and breakfast, where she meets a young boy Bobby, and his widowed father, Daniel.  You guessed it.  Joy attempts to make a new life for herself here, in a cabin in the woods, with two males she hardly knows.  She takes over the role of Bobby’s mom, recently deceased, and Daniel’s new flame.  It gets so super corny that I could hardly stand it, and then there’s part two…

            I won’t go into Joy’s confusion in part two because that would be a spoiler, but I can say that it gets less cheesy and more believable than a daytime soap opera. 

            While in my obsessed “need to read another novel that was as good as Winter Garden” phase, I purchased another Kristin Hannah novel: True Colors.  Hopefully this novel is less corny and more poetic and plot-filled.  I haven’t given up on this author that I once was so envious of.