"Joyce Maynard is in top-notch form with Labor Day. Simply a novel you cannot miss." -Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of My Sister's Keeper and Keeping Faith "Maynard has created an ensemble of characters that will sneak into your heart, and warm it while it breaks." -St. Petersburg Times Joyce Maynard, acclaimed author of At Home in the World, is back with Labor Day. The unforgettable story of a mother and son forever changed during a long summer weekend when a mysterious man comes into their lives. Labor Day is "a sexy, page turning, poignant story" (Jane Hamilton, author of A Map of the World) that "affirms Maynard's reputation as a master storyteller and shows her to be a passionate humanist with a gifted ear and heart" (People)
I had mixed feelings about this book. In one way, it’s a gentle story about love and a teenaged boy who has had to be the adult for way too long. On the other hand, it feels a little contrived. A woman and her son bring into their home a strange man without even a flicker of worry or doubt or suspicion? Even before they find out he’s an escaped convict, you’d expect the situation to raise some flags. But, if you can accept the premise, the story of their Labor Day weekend does its job to pull you through. You can understand Henry’s swinging emotions about the situation — after all, he’s still a child — and his mother’s ability to fall in love so easily. Do we believe Frank’s story? All that matters is that Adele believes it.
Where the book really lost me was in the chapters following the climax of the novel. I think way too much was said about the resolution, and the story would have been even more compact and powerful if that section had been cut into a single chapter.
Overall, I’m not sorry I read it, but I think it could have been better with a minimum amount of work.
