Have you ever read a book that felt so real and so heartfelt that ending it seemed almost wrong?

Tracy Manaster’s book (newly in paperback!), You Could Be Home By Now, was exactly that book for me…which probably explains why I read it all in one day! Yes, it’s that good. To start with, this book is beautifully written. Although this is Manaster’s first novel, it’s by no means her first taste of the literary world as she has written for numerous publications previously – and it shows! Each moment within this story is fine-tuned to leave you either laughing, crying, or wondering why in the world they would choose to do that. And perhaps best of all, there are moments that have you nearly doing all 3 at the same time.

You Could Be Home By Now is set outside of Tucson, Arizona in a luxury retirement community where all residents must be over the age of 55. This is important because when a young boy falls and injures himself within the community and the other members learn he’s being raised there by his grandmother, a great big load of drama is unleashed among neighbors. This story, told from multiple points of view by vastly different characters illustrates how viewing things from someone else’s point of view might change understanding altogether. Ultimately, it comes down to a balance of minding one’s own business and holding yourself together at the same time that will illuminate what needs to be done.

The characters in the novel are what really shines – uncertain, unrestricted, and overwhelmingly flawed, each makes a case for furthering the proceedings within the community. Whether you relate to one, two, all, or none of them yourself, they are each fascinating and endearing in their own right. If you love character-driven stories that will be sure to tug at your heart strings and make you wish you could follow along with the lives of these people for longer, this is a perfect book for you.

Described as Silver Linings Playbook meets Death At A Funeral, this poignant and touching debut will be everything you hoped it would be and then some.

Head over to TipsyWriter.com to read my exclusive interview with author, Tracy Manaster!

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You Could Be Home By Now by Tracy Manaster covers a wide variety of social issues in an intelligent, entertaining, and highly recommended debut novel.

Seth and Alison Collier are teachers who have recently experienced the death of their first child as a newborn. Seth, who is seemingly struggling more with handling his grief than Alison, suggests that they make a complete change of atmosphere to help them deal with their grief. They leave their teaching jobs in Vermont and move to the Commons, an over 55 planned community in outside Tucson, Arizona.

Once they are ensconced in their new positions, we meet some of the residents. Sadie, a recent widow, has her teenage granddaughter, Lily, come to visit. Lily who has come out as gay, has been sent to visit after her school reprimands her over a post on her blog, which features fashion advice for teens. She ends up saving the life of the grandchild secretly living next door with Mona Rosko, a curmudgeonly woman who has been unable to sell her house in the community due to the depressed housing market. The discovery of a child under 55 living in the community makes Mona a target for eviction. Ben Thales, who is a recently divorced retired veterinarian, has his own reasons for spouting off to a news reporter in such a vitriol manner that the clip goes viral, making Ben's mental health a concern for his son and ex-wife.

The pleasure I found in Manaster's novel surprised me. The writing is very good, but the real treasure is her characters. The emotions and inner turmoil of all the characters are handled so deftly and distinctly that I found myself enjoying the novel more and more. They have all the complex emotions, vulnerabilities, and disparate motives of real people, so they are not easily thrown into good/bad categories. They are all people struggling along with events, considering events and their actions based their own personal experiences. Each character is allowed to tell the events from their point of view and we are privy to the reason's they are doing many of the things that others are questioning.

Anyone who has ever lived with a home owner's association full of persnickety despots will totally understand how the rules in the retirement community, while written for a reason, are hard to accept in all situations. Life is never quite that neat and tidy. As a personal aside I once lived in an HOA community where a couple residents on the board were trying to dictate that only a certain kind of rose could be planted, as well as several other rules that were not in the by-laws and thus totally legally unenforceable. This experience did show me how a little power can affect some people, and, more importantly, that they can only be the neighborhood bullies if you allow it. You can say, "No, I will not sign that petition." and life will go on.

Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Adams Media for review purposes.
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