Book Review: Asleep Without Dreaming

Today's review is on Asleep Without Dreaming by: Barbara F. Abate

Like the first book I read by Abate; The Secret of Lies, this second book left me with a feeling of loss so great that I had to wait a full 24 hours before I could totally bring my thoughts together.  Written without the fluff and filler's that other writers utilize, Ms. Abate has the ability to tell the unsaid tales of those that have suffered irreputable damage throughout their entire life. Damage which cannot be easily repaired if at all, and the lasting effect that it has on them and those around them.

Willa Burkett's life is anything but the happy-go-lucky life of other children.   With a mother that seems to only think of herself, it's no wonder her father left for work one morning never to return.  Now it's only poor Willa that is left behind in the backwards town of Hoosick Falls with her.  

Trying to stay off the radar, Willa is distressed to learn that her mother's flaws knows no bounds as she tries to "reinvent" herself numerous times, lies to get what she wants, and even uses Willa's name to gain the interest of men.  But that all changes late one evening when Willa is awakened by her mother and told that they are finally leaving Hoosick Falls.

Driving along to some unknown destination, Willa tries in vain to think that things will be better once they get to where they are heading.  But once their beat up car stalls on the highway, Willa knows that that is not going to happen.  

Ending up in another dead-end town, Willa is faced with the truth of her life.  She is sick of her mothers' secret's and her lie's.  She's tired of the made-up reasons why her mother cannot work and leaves the housekeeping duties to fall on her, and she is tired of her mother's rants.  The only thing she is not tired of is Jesse Truman.

But Jesse too has secrets of his own, and though she wants nothing more than to help him and to save him, she may be to late in the end.

Though Asleep Without Dreaming may seem a bit slow, it really isn't.  If it were written any other way, the full impact would be lost in the end.  It may even bring a tear to your eye's as it did to mine.

5 of 5 stars
Available at Amazon