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The Underside of Joy [Kindle Edition]

Seré Prince Halverson (Author)

4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (24 customer reviews)

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Length: 384 pages
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Product Description

Review

‘The writing in The Underside of Joy is as purely beautiful as the story is emotionally complex. When Ella Beene is wrenched from a state of unexamined happiness into confusion and grief, she finds that her only hope of emerging whole is to face searing and long-buried truths. Ella embarks on a difficult journey, both morally and materially, one that requires her to risk losing everything she most loves. I cheered (sometimes through tears) her every step.’
Marisa de los Santos

‘Halverson’s prose is graceful, beguiling and resonant with emotion–and she poses some difficult questions regarding the nature of family. A fabulous book club choice!’
Jennie Tuner-Collins, Joseph-Beth Booksellers

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Product details

Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 583 KB
Print Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Harper (10 May 2012)
Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0007438915
ISBN-13: 978-0007438914
ASIN: B006I1J2ZY
Text-to-Speech: Enabled

X-Ray: Not Enabled

Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (24 customer reviews)

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #103,745 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Who should raise the children, the mother who abandoned them or the step-mother who picked up the pieces? 9 Sep 2012

By K. Wright VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

When Ella Beene's husband Joe drowns in a tragic accident, she is left in sole responsibility of Annie and Zach, Joe's children from a previous relationship, who they call Mommy. Still reeling from the grief, Ella is struggling to keep the family store afloat when Joe's ex-wife and birth mother of the two children decides she wants to be a part of her kids lives again.

Seré Prince Halverson's writing reminded me of Jodi Picoult in the sense that it is a difficult subject matter with no right and wrong answer, just many shades of gray. However, to begin with I found it a little difficult to fully immerse myself in the story as the writing was very matter-of-fact and not as emotional as one might expect. However, the story became more gripping as it progressed, leading to a heart-warming story of family including a satisfying ending.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars 'I know now that the most genuine happiness is kept afloat by an underlying sorrow.' 15 Aug 2012

By L. H. Healy TOP 100 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Ella has a wonderful husband in Joe, and a happy family with children Annie and Zach, as well as the extended family offered by Joe's large Italian family, all settled in rural Elbow, in northern California. After her previous, unhappy marriage ended, she left and chanced upon this new, fulfilling life, living happily with her new family and seemingly having little to worry about. Then tragedy strikes them from nowhere, as Joe passes away after a tragic accident. Ella must pick up the pieces, but she has more to contend with than just the immense grief and loss at Joe's death. The childrens' birthmother Paige, whom Ella has always understood had left Joe and the children to fend for themselves, now appears at Joe's funeral, and seems to now want to once again become involved in Annie and Zach's lives. Additionally, Joe's grocery store, which is steeped in family history, is in much more trouble than he had ever let on to Ella, and she has to try and contend with the bills and demands of the failing business as well as everything else.

This is an emotional read with depth. It immediately involves the reader in the situation and the many new, unexpected challenges facing Ella. She shows great determination and strength of character to carry on. It's an intriguing situation to form the basis of the story; a birth mother who has ostensibly given up all rights to her children, and admitted in the past she doesn't want to be with them as she couldn't cope, but now returns saying she wants to be their mother, and then a stepmother who loves the children and has been their Mummy every day for the past three years. Who are the children better off with, if it comes to a custody battle? How can they all do the right thing by the two children, whilst trying not to cause anyone else heartbreak?...

At times the story was very sad, so much grief to be endured, so much loss. Ella has to deal with so much, and just when you think she has got to the hardest part, another challenge comes along which forces her to consider very deeply what is the right thing to do, morally. It's an incredibly hard decision and she comes under pressure from those around her. I think she takes the only path that could offer her a future free of guilt and anxiety. Then there is Paige. Was it post-natal depression that led her to struggle so much with her children? We discover more as the story unfolds. There were moments where I don't think I could have been as strong as Ella manages to be.

The author also deals with issues such as painful, buried history, one of them touching on the past of this Italian family in the wider context of America in the twentieth century, and weaving issues that affected previous generations of their family into having a significance, a lesson almost, with regard to the main storyline about Ella. The story depicts the dangers of people not opening up to each other, but instead keeping their mouths shut and hoping things will go away, leaving truths to be uncovered that have long been hidden.

Nature is represented strongly here, something close to Ella's heart. I felt the giant redwood trees of California were a vivid, ever-present backdrop to the story, and very symbolic at times for Ella and her situation:

'I loved the way redwoods grow in circular groves, reproducing through 'suckers' - shoots that root in the ground and form new trees - which draw nourishment from the mother tree, even from its roots after the tree is long gone...hundreds, even thousands of years. And yet, if you were to take the younger shoots away from the mother tree and attempt to replant them, they would most likely wither and die.'

The Underside of Joy is a well-written, accomplished book for a debut. It kept me turning the pages throughout. I enjoyed the wider cast of characters as well as the main ones. The author is herself a stepmum and so has evidently been able to draw on her own experience in creating this work of fiction.

I enjoyed this book and I would certainly read more by this author. Read more ›

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful debut 16 Aug 2012

By Maggie TOP 1000 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

An author to watch. This is very well written and the emotion is palpable. It's the Caucasian Chalk Circle for modern times, showing how genuine maternal love calls for sometimes unbearable sacrifices.

The book is very rich in place and in people, with a back story about the Italians interned in America during the war, which is less well known than the internment of the Japanese. It buzzes all the way through with the legendary Italian love of food, wine and family, a backdrop that seems to make the tragedies of the main storyline even more stark. The core issue of the book, the custody battle between Ella and Paige, leads to the revealing of long-hidden secrets on all sides of the family that is ultimately cathartic for those concerned. Ella had been living an idyllic life, cocooned from reality, since she met and married Joe and now she starts to discover that he was less than perfect. Her mother had concealed the truth around Ella's own fathers' death. And Paige, the biological mother, has terrible secrets from her childhood. Other reviewers have set out the detailed storyline, I can only add that I recommend this novel unreservedly and will be looking out for this author in future.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Challenges your sympathies and ideas 18 July 2012

By Arkgirl VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

The blurb suggests Jodi Picoult fans will enjoy this and while I would agree with this I actually preferred this to any Picoult novel I have read.It is a great book that you struggle to put down and then wish you hadn't read it so fast!! Ella has found 'joy' in her relationship with Joe and his 2 children but her happiness is torn apart when he drowns in a freak accident and just when she feels things can't get any worse Joe's first wife Paige decides she wants her 'biological' children back - the blurb tells you this and it could be easy to turn this into a schmaltzy sorry but Halverson manages to create fallible, credible characters that ooze with depth and believability so the story feels real rather than the 'over the top' emotional tearjerker you might find with this plotline.
You don't need to know anymore about how the story goes as that would spoil things but it is a wonderful summer read and also a great one to get friends to read as I found myself wanting to discuss so many aspects of the story as it developed. Well written, great descriptive passages that made memories and places easy to visualise, I will definitely watch for more work by this author.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent debut 24 Jun 2012

By FLB TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

The first thing I want to say about this book is that is was so well written.....I couldn't believe it was a debut novel, it was so descriptive, about the beautiful north California area, the emotions of the family and friends of Joe, and the whole story was really touching.

I read the story of Ella struggling to cope with the turmoils of her life as a widow in two sittings, it was a really good read, not the usual 'chick lit' I expected it to be, but a tale of survival, compassion and determination.

I will certainly read more by this author.

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› Go to Amazon.com to see all 73 reviews 4.6 out of 5 stars

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant

this is a very good book one of my best book this year i have read. i was turning the pages after pages. i would highly recommend this book.

Published 2 months ago by bookmoviefanatic

4.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic debut novel by Sere Prince Halverson

This is a fantastic debut novel by Sere Prince Halverson. It takes the reader on an emotional rollercoaster of a journey as Ella's life as she knows it is one day suddenly turned... Read more

Published 4 months ago by E Thomas

4.0 out of 5 stars poses interesting questions

I asked for this book because it was billed as being similar to Jodi Picoult. And I agree it does have similarities, especially in Halverson's ability to raise an emotive subject... Read more

Published 6 months ago by H. Ashford

5.0 out of 5 stars A heart wrenching tale..

The Underside of Joy by Sere` Prince Halverson is a book which I recommend to all readers who like to not only fiction books but ones which hold every human emotion possible within... Read more

Published 7 months ago by Ms P. Wilson

4.0 out of 5 stars The underside of joy

This is a lovely story of a young woman, Ella, who lives happily in a small village with her husband and two stepchildren. Read more

Published 8 months ago by JM

4.0 out of 5 stars beautiful, full of emotion - a must read

What a lovely book. Very sad at times. Ella's husband Joe dies, and she is trying to get her life back on track, with Joe's children from a previous relationship. Read more

Published 9 months ago by SusieH

4.0 out of 5 stars The Underside of Joy

This is the story of a newly widowed step-mother and her battle to keep the children she has brought up as her own for three years. Read more

Published 9 months ago by C. Hicks

5.0 out of 5 stars No tissues required!

Just read the Underside of Joy by Sere Prince Halverson. Thought I might have needed tissues with this book....but no a good 'happy' book. Read more

Published 10 months ago by Fiona

5.0 out of 5 stars I Loved It!

Like many reviewers,I was surprised that this is a debut novel as it is so well written.I literally could not put it down till I found out what happened with Ella and the... Read more

Published 10 months ago by C. M. Collier

4.0 out of 5 stars dealing with the reality of life

I liked this novel very much. I think the title is very realistic in portraying happiness as a two edged sword. Read more

Published 10 months ago by barweb

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