Entering Normal

By Anne D. LeClaire

Book Overview

In the tradition of The Good Mother and The Deep End of the Ocean , Anne D. LeClaire delivers a heartbreaking-and breathtaking-novel of two very different but equally loving mothers who face the most painful of losses and then find the courage not only to go on but to find meaning and hope in their lives. Rose Nelson is a middle-aged woman with a broken past, a sorrow from which she cannot recover. Secretly guilty about her role in her teenaged son's death five years ago, she has sealed herself off from life, enveloped by a grief that has slowly eaten away at her relationship with her husband. Against her will, Rose is drawn into the world she has avoided when Opal Gates and her five-year-old son, Zack, move in next door. Determined to start an independent life for herself, twenty-year-old Opal has left her family and the father of her son in North Carolina. But when she quickly begins an affair with Tyrone Miller, a part-time mechanic and local musician, Opal unwittingly breaks the tacit rules of both her family and her new hometown. Initially, Rose cannot bear the sight of Opal and her son. But later when Zack is injured, she instinctively lies to protect Opal from a single mistake that changes the lives of everyone involved. Faced with a custody suit brought by Zack's father and her own parents, Opal faces a trial in which each choice she has made will be used as ammunition in the battle to take Zack away from her. Confronting such devastating loss and the questions it poses are at the heart of Entering Normal . How does one go on after great tragedy? What is a family? What sacrifices must a mother be willing to make for her child? And how can a good mother sometimes make bad choices? Entering Normal is a story of family, a novel about courage, loss, risk, and betrayal. It is a story that goes to the heart of love.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345445732
• ISBN13: 9780345445735
• Release Date: July 2002
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Memorable Book and Memorable Characters

Entering Normal by Anne D. Leclaire is one of those books that finds you reading late into the night and asking for more. As I was about to finish this book, I was sorry I couldn't be reading it for the first time. I was so sorry to see the pages almost turning themselves for a book which turned out to be a very memorable read.Opal is the 20 year old unmarried mother of a five year old son named Zack. Refusing to live with her critical and overbearing mother any longer, Rose rolls dice from a Monopoly game and decides to fill up her car according to the number which appears. Wherever her car runs out of gas is where she is plannign on staying. And soon enough she finds herself and Zack entering Normal, Mass. Moving next door to Rose and Ned, Opal settles into hometown life spending time with her sonand making dolls for a toy store in town. Rose on the other hand isn't doing much of anything. Shrouded in grief from a tragic death five years before, Rose's feels as though she has little in her life to look forward to and ignores Opal and Zack. But when Opal needs Rose's help, Rose manages to set aside her grief. How these two women help each other to be there when life turns on a dime for them is the focus of this book which I really enjoyed. The book packs many an emotional punch and shows readers how friends can and do become family. Rose and Opal are two wonderful characters who I miss already and will never forget. Similar to themes explored both by Jacquelyn Mitchard and Alice Hoffman, Anne D. Leclaire is a new to me author but one whom I plan on reading in the future.

Breaking down the walls of the heart

I was a little disappointed to see so many people did not like this book. I for one found it to be one of the best I have ever read. Two mothers who have built emotional walls around their hearts concerning their children. Opal the young mother who may lose her son simply because she doesn't fit the mold of a perfect mother. Rose who lost her teenage son five years ago in an accident that she feels is her fault. These two have both built a wall around themselve that they find in the end has to be overcome. Rose is finally able to come to terms with how deep she has fallen into despair and that life does hold another chance for her. Opal learns that you can trust and I think that is all this book needed to say in the end. Entering Normal the perfect title for a great book.

this book top notch not stereo typed

I almost let a review or two keep me from reading this little jewel. This story very adeptly explores the lives of four people.There a few extra characters but I'd say there were four main ones. I was able to know how each character felt about what was going on in their own lives and how they felt about the other characters. I really enjoyed the way it moved in and out of each character's narrating the story. Sometimes it even back-tracked just a little and even that was well done. I'm afraid that this book may get overlooked because it quietly tells it story. The story itself is sometimes amusing and sometimes very poignant. Make sure you read lots of reviews if you're thinking of not giving this one a shot. It will stick with you awhile too!

Get your tissues ready for this one

Entering Normal is a tale of two moms. One who lost her son in an accident five years ago and one who moves away from her family and sons' father to better her life and make a new start. Although these women do not see eye to eye in the beginning they grow close sharing the bond of loss, love, and motherhood. This story will break your heart and then mend it. I will be looking for more books by Leclair!!

Anne D. LeClaire - Take a Bow

Opal,an unwed mother and her five year old son,Zack,are escaping her life in North Carolina;away from her opressive mother,Melva,and the unwilling father of her son,Billy.She ends up in the small town of Normal in Massachusetts,moving into a house next door to Rose and Ned. Their son,Todd, was killed in an accident five years earlier and Rose cannot escape the prison of her grief over Todd's death.Opal is a free spirit,albeit a good mother . An unfortunant accident reluctantly involves Rose, which opens a small door to their bonding. Roses' guilt over this forces her away from Opel, but already a change is being wrought upon her by their brief association.Opal's family and Billy wreck havoc upon her and Zack, while, at the same time, Rose has a further tragedy in her own life. The bonding, which has already begun,becomes full-fledged, and the two unlikely women join forces in their crises, changing them both for the better in the process.Opal is so well portrayed as a tough young woman determined to make it on her own. Having lost a son, I have known a few Roses myself, who refuse to leave their grief, making it their way of life. Ned, Rose's husband:Billy,Zack's father and Ty,Opal's off-times boyfriend are all believable. Her mother,Melva, is the controlling mother many of us are familiar with. Altogether, this is a wonderful book ,and Anne D. LeClaire has believably characterized these people and their interactions.