Rules for Moving by Nancy Star

Rules for Moving

by Nancy Star

From bestselling author Nancy Star comes a deeply moving novel about the truths we hide from others and the lies we tell ourselves.

To the outside world, beloved advice columnist Lane Meckler has all the answers. What no one knows is that she also has a secret: her life is a disaster, and it’s just gotten worse. Her husband, whom she was planning to leave, has died in a freak accident. Her six-year-old son, Henry, has stopped speaking to everyone but her. Lane’s solution? Move. Growing up, that was what her family did best.

But when she and Henry pack up and leave, Lane realizes that their next home is no better, and she finally begins to ask herself some hard questions. What made her family move so often? Why has she always felt like an outsider? How can she get Henry to speak?

On a journey to help her son find his voice, Lane discovers that somewhere along the way she lost her own. If she wants to help him, she’ll need to find the courage to face the past and to speak the truth she’s been hiding from for years.

Reviewed by Jeff Sexton on

5 of 5 stars

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Rules Are Meant To Be Broken. This is an interesting story full of very human characters who are each flawed in some way yet doing the best they can with what they have. Perhaps a bit drawn out, and perhaps a touch too circumspect in some aspects, it does a solid job of telling its tale primarily through the lens of a mother who is about to divorce her husband when he suddenly dies, as well as through the perspective of her young son just trying to make sense of the adults who clearly aren't telling him everything. Ultimately it seems to hit all of the RWA rules for "romance", though I suspect it will instead be marketed as "women's fiction". Definitely a drama regardless, with a smattering of humor to keep it just this side of depressing. Solid work. Recommended.

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  • Started reading
  • 16 May, 2020: Finished reading
  • 16 May, 2020: Reviewed