The Night the Lights Went out by Karen White - Reshelved Books

Hello Dewey Readers!

I absolutely adore the cover of Karen White's novel The Night the Lights Went Out.  I think it's absolutely gorgeous, or maybe I just like the girl on the cover's outfit.  But nevertheless, this is a book that I was immediately attracted to.   I purchased this book even though my to-read pile is wayyyyy to high.  I also purchased this book while I was at the grocery store, eyeing up the cutest man I have ever seen while he too did his early morning grocery run.  He had a cart full of bananas.  

Anyway, onto the book.  This book takes place down in Georgia (at least I think it was Georgia, don't you hate book brain memory fog?)  and it follows the story of Merilee, a recently divorced mother of two who's husband was cheating on her with their children's elementary school teacher.  The teacher is now pregnant.  It is very scandalous.  So, Merilee rents a home from Sugar Prescott, an elderly woman with a history full of her own stories, secrets, and heartbreak.  Sugar doesn't really like many people, but for some reason she like Merilee. 

So Merilee struggles to fit in with her new town, and specially the mothers at her children's school.  She's a single working mom, and most of the other mothers aren't single and they don't work.  There's a blog that spreads gossip, but it isn't entirely nasty, and actually has the undercurrent to warn people that what you hear may not always be the full story...

This novel switches between Merilee's current story, and Sugar's past, and it also has an interwoven mystery, that appears about halfway through, which was not something that I expected.  Just when the novel began to feel little bit slow, it suddenly became a whole different beast, which I COULD NOT PUT DOWN. My grandma agrees.   

So thank you, grocery shopping banana man, for inadvertently making me buy this book so I would look less awkward.  I'm rating this book 5 out of 5 Coffee Beans. 

Until the next read!
~Jessica