Jun. 16: Book recommendation

I’m always in the middle of a book, it seems, but it’s not very often that one stands out so far from the constant stream, one that I enjoy so much I’m sorry to finally finish reading. Belong to Me, by Marisa de los Santos, was that book.

Laura, a former classmate with whom I’ve reconnected on Facebook this year, recommended Belong to Me in a status update last month and I eagerly added it to my list, hoping that she might have similar taste in books. Now that I’ve read it, I have this to say: yay, Laura! I think what I loved most about the book was the author’s writing style—very poetic, but without being high brow, like she was trying to impress us. She described people and situations and emotions with such clarity, and by using a wide variety of adjectives (none of which I think I ever needed my dictionary), that it was impossible not to form clear pictures in my mind as I made my way through the story.

The plot itself was appealing, too, featuring a “perfect” young couple starting their family in the suburbs, a newcomer to town with a son and a huge secret, a snobby neighbor with ridiculously high standards, a woman dying of cancer amid her devoted family and best friend; all of them are well developed characters who interact in ways that ultimately make them realize they belong to each other. The chapters take turns telling the not always likeable characters’ stories, with a minimum of overlap. Sometimes a story told in different voices can get confusing, but in my opinion, de los Santos managed it very well.

Cornelia, the primary character in Belong to Me, is also in Marisa de los Santos’ first novel, Love Walked In. I didn’t know that until I had almost finished reading Belong to Me. If you’re big on reading things in sequence, you’ll want to read Love Walked In first. 

Belong to Me was a delightful read. If you’re looking for a heartwarming-almost-to-the-point-of-being-sappy story of family, friends and love, I would definitely recommend it. It made me smile.