Review of The Lockhart Women

[Theresa Moffitt]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Lockhart Women" by Mary Camarillo.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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The Lockhart Women by Mary Camarillo tells the fictional story of Brenda Lockhart and her two daughters, Allison and Peggy. The three women couldn’t be more different. Allison is tall, beautiful, and dates the star football player in her high school. Peggy has graduated high school and is looking at colleges. Her dream is to be a CPA and do taxes. She’s very smart and capable; however, she feels like she doesn’t measure up to her beautiful younger sister in her parents’ eyes. Brenda and her husband, Frank, have been married a long time and Brenda is comfortable being a stay-at-home wife and mother. Frank never wanted his wife to work. When Frank abruptly leaves Brenda for another woman, she is left with no income and no skills to support herself.

When her parents can no longer afford to pay for a dorm, Peggy is forced to go to a college close to home. Brenda and Frank don’t spend as much time with the girls after he moves out. He moves on with his new life. Brenda sinks into a depression where her children are no longer her priority. Allison and her boyfriend start spending too much time together. Peggy gets a job at the post office to try to pay for school and gets mixed up with people and situations she hasn’t experienced before. When Brenda gets arrested for driving while intoxicated, she loses her driver’s license and things take a drastic turn for the worse.

What I liked most about this book were the complex relationships between the various family members. Each character is multi-dimensional and interesting. They get frustrated with one another frequently and argue constantly; however, they clearly love one another. Their relationships seem very realistic to the reader. Brenda is a captivating character. She is a very strong person but changes once her husband leaves her. She begins drinking heavily and watching television all day. She loses sight of what is important in her life. Readers can sympathize with her struggles and insecurities. There was nothing I disliked about this book.

It covers many interesting topics. Drug use and sexual situations are described in detail, so it is not an appropriate book for younger readers. The harsh realities of divorce and infidelity are represented honestly. The main characters are flawed but likeable. An interesting element of the book is that it takes place during the O.J. Simpson trial in California. It is a backdrop to the story. Many characters are riveted by the televised trial and scenes from the trial weave in and out of the story. Brenda spends many days glued to her television set watching the trial and discussing it with friends and family.

This book is exceptionally well edited without any errors. For that reason, I believe it was professionally edited. I recommend The Lockhart Women to readers who enjoy books about complex family relationships. It covers divorce, infidelity and associated issues in a realistic manner. For the reasons stated, I give this book a rating of 4 out of 4 stars. With its intricate storyline and well-developed characters, I couldn’t give it any less than a perfect score.

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The Lockhart Women
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[Shivansh_007]

I like the fact that I'll be able to read many stories in a single book which is written wonderfully according to the reviewer. Really well written review explaining the complexity of the book and it's characters, thankyou.

[Shilisia]

This story seems very interesting. Family is important and sometimes we might need to read such books to know how to cope with such situations. Thanks

[Immaculate06]

The plot of the book is quite fascinating. I'd love to read it so as to how Brenda's story ended. Thanks for your review.