Three Days on Mimosa Lane by Anna DeStefano-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 23, 2013

One day can change your life forever… Three days change a painful past into a beautiful tomorrow…

Once, Sam Perry had it all. A loving marriage, an amazing job she adored as a preschool teacher, and a beautiful home. She was safe, happy and secure.

Then the unthinkable happened…

Watching his once carefree wife withdraw into herself was almost more than Brian Perry could handle. The only thing that kept him going was knowing that he loved her more than life itself. Moving her out of New York to Chandlerville, a small, quiet suburb of Atlanta, felt right. Anything, to get her away from the memories of the buildings, and her world, crashing around her.

Now, two sons and many years later, Sam cherishes the new life on Mimosa Lane that Brian built for them.

Until lightning strikes twice…

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REVIEW: It’s difficult to know where to begin with this story.  It deals with those who have been through intense trauma events and are suffering from some form of PTSD.  The story is one of intense depression, fear and attempts to try to overcome the trauma, which some do not do well naturally.

So, you have Samantha and Brian Perry, who now live on Mimosa Lane, in Chandlerville, GA. They moved from Manhattan after the tragedy of 9/11.  Samantha was a teacher at a school near ground zero, and the trauma of watching and hearing the towers fall and knowing that many of the parents of the children she was caring for were not going to be picking their children up.  The group had to lead the children out of the danger zone through smoke and ashes off the island to a safe zone where families or surviving members could come to pick up the children.

The beginning starts with a day when Samantha is trying to get enough courage to attend a bake sale at her son’s school.  Apparently something she has not been able to do.  So she’s barely hanging on going through the event and her son is involved in another tragedy where one of his friends shoots another one for bullying him.  Samantha helps out, while trying to save her son.  More months of angst, fear, etc. while she moves out of her house and lives next door with friends, and still makes breakfast for the boys and helps them with their homework, saying Brian needs to work on facing that things are not alright.

This book is not one that I would normally read; it was very difficult for me to get through all the depression, fears and somewhat unrealistic (at least to me) mistakes being made.

Through much blame placing, severe trauma with her son not wanting to face his fears and anger, as well as her own mistakes and Brian’s…it was quite a ride.  There were some tender loving moments and even sex in the park, after which she went back to the neighbor’s house and Brian went home???

Eventually, some things get resolved through a lot of tough work and pain.  If you like reading almost real type of dramas that effect people, this would be a great read for you.  I like to read for entertainment, and this just wasn’t it for me.  But that’s me!

This is entirely my own issue, the piece is well written and cleverly put together and does have a nice ending.  I’m sure it’s a good tribute to those brave souls who went through so much in the wake of the 9/11 tragedy as well as others.

Review by Georgianna S.