Review: Words for Patty Jo

WORDS FOR PATTY JO by Jill Arlene Culiner

Fiction, Romance, Second Chances

4****

Blurb: A passion for books creates a lasting bond between teenage Patty Jo and David, but small-town prejudice and social differences doom their romance. After a summer of reading and falling in love, David heads for university, foreign adventure, and a dazzling career; Patty Jo marries slick, over-confident Don Ried. Yet plans can go horribly wrong. The victim of her violent husband, Patty Jo abandons her home and children to live on the streets of Toronto. David, a high-ranking executive in Paris, is dismayed by the superficiality of corporate success. Forty years later, Patty Jo and David meet again. Both have defied society; both have fulfilled their dreams. And what if first love was the right one after all, and destiny has the last word?

THOUGHTS: This was an interesting story that takes place over several decades. We start in the 1960s in a small town. Patty Jo is definitely from the wrong side of the tracks, and though she hangs out with other kids from her part of town, she’s not really a part of them. But going home just means abuse from everyone in her family. David, on the other hand, is from the “rich” side of town with all the advantages that implies. Falling for Patty Jo–and she for him–is not what his family has planned and he is sent off to boarding school. Meanwhile, Patty Jo quits school and gets a job waitressing, where she meets Don Ried, a slick-talking salesman. Patty Jo gets pregnant and they get married. But all is not sunshine and roses as he is abusive and turns the boys (now two of them) against her. Patty Jo decides she’s had enough and walks out, heads for Toronto where she sleeps where she can find a spot and indulges in her passion of theater. Over the years, she becomes a star actress. Meanwhile David is an executive in Paris, married, and sick of his life. He and his wife divorce and he follows his dream to open a small bookstore in a small French town and live a simple life. Forty years after their breakup, he and Patty Jo reconnect when David visits his family in Toronto. And the two of them realize that, even though they’ve changed, their connection is still there and still strong.

The characters are interesting and the settings very well done. I could see Patty Jo climbing out her window to go meet up with David. Feel her disgust with her family–both her parents and sister, and her husband and children. I was happy she found the courage to do what she did in leaving them all, even though that put her in disgrace with most of society. And I was also happy for David in that he followed his heart and left big money to do what made him happy.

The book started slow for me, but the ending was so satisfying that it made up for the slow parts. The HEA ending showed that second chances can work out.