Review of The Senator's Suitcase
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Jacqueline W 5
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- Latest Review: The Senator's Suitcase by Mitch Engel
Review of The Senator's Suitcase
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Senator's Suitcase" by Mitch Engel.]
When Senator Beth Davenport tragically dies in a helicopter crash halfway around the world, her son Troy is left to deal with her estate. When he accidentally finds a key to a storage unit and discovers an old leather suitcase with over 5 million dollars in cash, he suddenly realizes there is much more to his enigmatic mother than he ever thought. The Senator's Suitcase, a wonderfully and artfully crafted work of storytelling by Mitch Engel, takes us on a journey to answer whether you truly ever know someone, even your own parents, and whether one can ever escape one's past. As Troy tells of his attempts to uncover the real Beth Davenport, we get flashbacks of his mother's troubled and unusual life and another theme emerges...secrets. Elizabeth (Lizzie) Monroe came from an extremely abusive and dysfunctional household, and both her parents and brother die in a house fire. Remarkably, Lizzie appears to be able to rise about her circumstances and even attend college, but something inside her shuts down. At college she meets Junior Davenport and Cal Stratton, and the three become fast friends as a secret binds them. Junior's father, Senior Davenport constantly berates and demeans his son for not measuring up to his exacting standards. After pressure from Senior, Lizzie secretly agrees to marry Junior and produce an heir to the Davenport dynasty. However, the couple cannot conceive. Eventually; however, Beth does become pregnant, but she must hide her pregnancy because during this time announcing her pregnancy would have sunk her political career. She gives birth to a healthy boy, Troy. Sadly, Junior dies of a blood disease when Troy is five. The second part of the novel finds Beth revisiting her diary from the perspective of her 79 year old self as we learn many more bombshell secrets and lies. In the process of trying to discover the truth about his mother's life and the reason for the contents of the suitcase, Troy receives a letter written by his mother before she died, and in that letter he comes to know his mother for the first time.
Lies and secrets are front and center in this intricately designed story of family and relationships. This book is full of surprises and bombshell revelations. The author is humorous and engages the reader from the very beginning. He utilizes satire effectively and handles difficult issues such as child abuse, sexual abuse, gender identity and sexual orientation with dignity and grace. One of the themes, be who you are, is especially positive and we are left with the overwhelming message, Love is Love. Engaging storytelling and development of complex, difficult characters is the hallmark of this novel.
Although this book is extremely well written, there was just one moment where believability faltered. It doesn't seem credible that given the nature of Senior's feelings toward Cal that he would allow Cal to be best man at Beth and Junior's wedding.
I would rate this book a 4 out of 4 stars. It immediately connects you to the characters and makes you want to follow Troy on his journey to know his mother and of his own self discovery. It appears to have been professionally edited, as I found no typos or grammatical errors. Just an excellent read!
This novel would definitely appeal to anyone interested in psychology and what motivates people to do what they do. Readers interested in philosophical questions such as whether we can we escape our past and the nature of human behavior would enjoy this book as well. Anyone interested in women's issues and feminism, as well as sexual identity would connect with this novel. It would also resonate with people struggling with gender identity, sexual orientation, and just trying to figure out how they fit in. Because this book deals with the issue of healing from past trauma, it would also appeal to anyone who has experienced similar pain in their lives.
Conversely, it is doubtful that those with a strong conservative, traditional outlook on family, marriage and sexuality, would identify or appreciate the overriding themes of this novel.
******
The Senator's Suitcase
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
When Senator Beth Davenport tragically dies in a helicopter crash halfway around the world, her son Troy is left to deal with her estate. When he accidentally finds a key to a storage unit and discovers an old leather suitcase with over 5 million dollars in cash, he suddenly realizes there is much more to his enigmatic mother than he ever thought. The Senator's Suitcase, a wonderfully and artfully crafted work of storytelling by Mitch Engel, takes us on a journey to answer whether you truly ever know someone, even your own parents, and whether one can ever escape one's past. As Troy tells of his attempts to uncover the real Beth Davenport, we get flashbacks of his mother's troubled and unusual life and another theme emerges...secrets. Elizabeth (Lizzie) Monroe came from an extremely abusive and dysfunctional household, and both her parents and brother die in a house fire. Remarkably, Lizzie appears to be able to rise about her circumstances and even attend college, but something inside her shuts down. At college she meets Junior Davenport and Cal Stratton, and the three become fast friends as a secret binds them. Junior's father, Senior Davenport constantly berates and demeans his son for not measuring up to his exacting standards. After pressure from Senior, Lizzie secretly agrees to marry Junior and produce an heir to the Davenport dynasty. However, the couple cannot conceive. Eventually; however, Beth does become pregnant, but she must hide her pregnancy because during this time announcing her pregnancy would have sunk her political career. She gives birth to a healthy boy, Troy. Sadly, Junior dies of a blood disease when Troy is five. The second part of the novel finds Beth revisiting her diary from the perspective of her 79 year old self as we learn many more bombshell secrets and lies. In the process of trying to discover the truth about his mother's life and the reason for the contents of the suitcase, Troy receives a letter written by his mother before she died, and in that letter he comes to know his mother for the first time.
Lies and secrets are front and center in this intricately designed story of family and relationships. This book is full of surprises and bombshell revelations. The author is humorous and engages the reader from the very beginning. He utilizes satire effectively and handles difficult issues such as child abuse, sexual abuse, gender identity and sexual orientation with dignity and grace. One of the themes, be who you are, is especially positive and we are left with the overwhelming message, Love is Love. Engaging storytelling and development of complex, difficult characters is the hallmark of this novel.
Although this book is extremely well written, there was just one moment where believability faltered. It doesn't seem credible that given the nature of Senior's feelings toward Cal that he would allow Cal to be best man at Beth and Junior's wedding.
I would rate this book a 4 out of 4 stars. It immediately connects you to the characters and makes you want to follow Troy on his journey to know his mother and of his own self discovery. It appears to have been professionally edited, as I found no typos or grammatical errors. Just an excellent read!
This novel would definitely appeal to anyone interested in psychology and what motivates people to do what they do. Readers interested in philosophical questions such as whether we can we escape our past and the nature of human behavior would enjoy this book as well. Anyone interested in women's issues and feminism, as well as sexual identity would connect with this novel. It would also resonate with people struggling with gender identity, sexual orientation, and just trying to figure out how they fit in. Because this book deals with the issue of healing from past trauma, it would also appeal to anyone who has experienced similar pain in their lives.
Conversely, it is doubtful that those with a strong conservative, traditional outlook on family, marriage and sexuality, would identify or appreciate the overriding themes of this novel.
******
The Senator's Suitcase
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: The Senator's Suitcase by Mitch Engel
