Ordinary Springs

An excellent summer read! Well written & kept me involved until the end! I will read more by this author. All young and older will enjoy this book.

This is a terrific book, written elegantly and simply, about a girl growing up with her father after her mother's departure. She yearns for a mother, yearns for her father, and feels quite a bit of push-pull when it comes to encouraging or discouraging romance in her father's life. That's the setup, anyway, and ORDINARY SPRINGS, told in first person, follows the girl for some years. She is a at times subtly unreliable narrator -- not so much that she lies to herself; she's just young and inexperienced in many ways, and doesn't know how to interpret events or lacks insight. It's a terrific book right up until the denouement (which I accept but don't fully buy; suddenly the story turns a little too Gothic and the perfectly-maintained tone slips). It doesn't spoil things, but it does feel a little sensational, a little cheap. The first 350 pages deserved a final eleven of the same caliber. Still: highly recommended.

I stayed up all night to finish Ordinary Springs and can hardly breathe. The writing is smooth, the flow of the tale, complex, yet easy to follow. Ms. Hart is a master at increasing dramatic tension to the point where the wire almost snaps, releasing it some, and finally resolving it in a logical manner, that, while hinted at as a possiblity, is not telegraphed. The characters, particularly Dory, the protagonist, are believable, and though flawed, each has redeeming qualities that do not seem gratuitous. Gee, I wish I'd written this book; it's one I'll read again and recommend to friends.

In Ordinary Springs, Florida, sixteen years old Dory Camber has lived with her father Owen, owner of a hardware store ever since her mother Vera deserted the two of them when she was an infant. Dory ponders that Vera vanished after reading a bedtime story to her. She questions to herself why her dad buried her mother's clothing and what happened between her parents and their neighbors, who are barely civil? Though her father shows no affection, Dory believes that he exclusively loves her since she has noticed how he ignores the overtures of the town female population. However, her belief that she is numero uno dies when the Yankee invaders move in next door. While Frank Fitzgerald is a bedridden veteran, his wife Myra and Owen make love in another room. Frank commits suicide with Dory's unintentional assistance. Not long afterward Owen and Myra agree to marry. Distraught and betrayed, Dory makes love with her childhood pal, steals cash from her dad's store, but, the sheriff arrests her for her assisted suicide role. Reform school is next for the pregnant sixteen years old. Though soap opera in theme ORDINARY SPRINGS is a delightful coming of age 1950s tale that brings across 1950s Florida. The story line stars a teenager whose grip on reality is weak, but further torn asunder when her dad turns to Myra. The support cast to include her first lover, her father, the neighbors, and her missing mother help the audience understand the demons that eat at a beleaguered Dory's soul. Fans of historical family dramas will appreciate this fine novel whose lead protagonist is the heart that makes the plot worth reading. Harriet Klausner