It seems our childhood could have a greater effect on us that we realize. Those years are formative, after all, and perhaps the human psyche, especially when it’s in its relative infancy, is especially vulnerable. Those who experience unhappy childhoods are not destined to be unhappy people, but life may have more challenges; likewise, those with happy childhoods – those lucky, desired, loved children – are not guaranteed a successful future, though challenges may seem less daunting, depending on the circumstances. So maybe the lesson is not that childhood maps out the future, but that memories and feelings can remain with us forever, whether we like it or not. It’s a theory with which Jo Ellen Hathaway is only too familiar.
Plot Overview: Brothers, Identity and Romance
Jo Ellen is a talented, successful photographer, a dream for many. But when a piece of her beloved art shows up featuring her mother, Annabelle, Jo Ellen breaks down. Annabelle was long believed to have run away with another man, but this particular photo shows the woman from twenty years ago, beautiful and dead. Shocked, Jo Ellen checks into a hospital for treatments.
After she’s released, Jo Ellen feels compelled to return to her home, a place she abandoned several years before, much like she thought her mother had. Instead, she finds her estranged siblings, Lexy and Brian, working at the family’s B&B. Her homecoming is lukewarm at best.
While Jo Ellen tries to mend the estrangement with her siblings and her father, she reunites with Nathan Delaney, a man Jo Ellen associates with the summer her mother went missing. The two strike up a friendship, then a romance. But the person who sent Jo Ellen the traumatic photo has tracked her to Sanctuary, the family’s home in Georgia. The stalker will stop at nothing to punish her. It’s only as she gets closer to the truth that Jo Ellen begins to piece her childhood together.
Criticisms and Compliments
It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that most (if not all) readers of romantic fiction are women. So when a writer like Roberts (i.e. one who grew up with brothers) tells a tale of strife between two sons, each following a different path with unpredictable consequences, it’s fascinating. (Note: This particular relationship is not included in the plot synopsis; better read the book!) Women certainly understand the complex relationships women have with one another; men, however, can seem overly simplistic in comparison, but Roberts makes her male relationships deeper and more complicated. Like some of her other novels (Carnal Innocence, Divine Evil, The Chesapeake Bay Saga), Roberts also does not limit herself to just one sibling relationship, but immerses the reader in an entire generation of a family, guaranteeing that the siblings – usually a total of three – all find their happily ever afters. Some readers might find such devotion to the characters irritating or feel that it detracts from the plot or the story itself, but some readers (including this reviewer) don’t mind the exploration of one family’s innerworkings.
Sanctuary also has the dubious honor of the being the first Nora Roberts novel to be turned into a Lifetime movie. The movie isn’t bad, though, obviously, the book is better. Roberts’ writing is clean and persuasive, and her murder plot is intriguing. Although this aspect of plotting might be overdone, for some there is nothing more interesting than reading about a dysfunctional family’s long-hidden secret. Add in a dose of true love and a mysterious madman, and it’s a winner. Check this one out (it’s a perfect snowy day read).
Source:
- Roberts, Nora. Sanctuary. Jove, 2004 ISBN 9780515122732
