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In Paula Dombrowiak’s rock and roll novel Blood and Bone we were introduced to rock musician Jack O’Donnell. Haunted by his past, Jack was still tormented by the death of his bandmate, Mia Stone, a woman Jack regarded as his soulmate. Jack was trying to revive his tattered career and deal with a rather messy relationship with his ex-wife Amber and their daughter, Hayley, a budding musician herself.
And then there was music journalist Erin Langford. At the end of Blood and Bone, Jack and Erin had embarked on a relationship as she got to know more about him and help him with his memoir. But this professional relationship couldn’t help but grow into something quite more romantic. The chemistry between Erin and Jack was electric, and the sex white hot. But was their relationship just a memory of entangled bedsheets and limbs? Or was Erin a promise of love and happiness for Jack? Or would Jack screw things up and cast Erin aside like a used up condom?
Now Jack and Erin, and so many others introduced in Blood and Bone are back in Paula Dombrowiak’s latest installment Breath to Bear. And everyone has quite the story to tell in this crazy rock and roll ride.
As Breath to Bear begins, Jack’s memoir, which he wrote with Erin’s help, has been released. Writing this memoir was an act of laying bare, opening a vein, and bleeding all over the page. Jack is brutally honest about the life he has lived, and how it has lead him this point in time. There is no sugar-coating in Jack’s memoir. And now Jack is dealing with the aftermath of releasing such a blunt tale of his life that may freak out his fans, and ruffle the feathers of those closest to him.
Writing this memoir was cathartic, but Jack isn’t exactly in the best state of mind. As mentioned, he’s still tormented by the memory of Mia. His old band, Mogo, busted up ages ago, and Jack is trying to get his solo career started. If only, he wasn’t dealing with a vicious case of writer’s block. Will the musical muse ever visit him again? Sobriety continues to be a challenge for Jack. His ex, Amber, has announced she’s getting remarried, and his daughter, Hayley, now has a musical career of his own. Being all too aware of the missteps a young person can make in the world of music, Jack has his worries.
And then there is Erin, the woman who helped him string his past and his words into creating his best-selling memoir. When they met, Jack thought Erin was just another irritating journalist, and Erin thought Jack was just another has-been musician. But they connected so much writing the memoir, finding layers and layers beneath both of their surfaces, and yes, the electricity between them was smoking hot. But Erin didn’t want to be just another notch on Jack’s bedpost. And Jack was giving her the time to figure things out.
As mentioned, Jack is trying to finish an album he was originally going to do with Mia. And he’s waiting for the muse to help him writes songs and record them in the studio. His relationship with former bandmates is fractured, and the music business sees him as very damaged goods. And though Jack’s memoir is a huge best-seller, he feels like he exposed too much. But Jack feels it in his bones that he must get his revive his stalled career or else.
Erin was thrilled to get the chance to help Jack write his memoir. However, she didn’t expect to sleep with him and possible fall in love with him, too. Feeling like her journalistic integrity is a bit in tatters, Erin leaves her regular music magazine writing gig and goes freelance. She also hopes to figure out what she and Jack have.
Jack and Erin’s relationship is confusing at best. Jack is a parade of red flags. One of them is his obsession with Mia. How can Erin compete with Jack’s alleged soulmate even if she’s now a ghost? Erin tries to keep Jack at arms length (not always an easy thing to do) and focus on her career as a writer.
Jack tries to revitalize his splintered musical career, make amends with his former bandmates, come to terms with Amber’s impending nuptials, and encourage Haley on her music career. He also can’t stop thinking about Erin. Could he be falling in love with her? As for Erin, she decides to take a road trip, visit various towns, check out their music scenes, and write about them. While on her trip, she befriends a talented budding photographer, Sasha, and Sasha joins her on this road trip.
During this time, Erin acts as a mentor and big sister to Sasha. And it’s wonderful to see two women connect rather than seeing backstabbing and catty behavior. And Jack finds out Hayley has been assaulted by some sleazy toad in the music industry, and deals with this piece of shit in the way you’d expect Jack to act. But you can’t blame him for wanting to protect Hayley. The music business is treacherous.
As Breath to Bear reaches its conclusion, it looks like Jack might get his career back on track and Erin just might be the true blue love he’s been searching for, but it takes a lot of soul-searching to reach this point. Will Jack release an album that goes platinum? Will Erin’s writing career flourish now that she’s freelance? Will Jack and Erin end up at the Chapel of Love? Only time will tell.
Dombrowiak has written another richly detailed and gripping tale. Sure, she covers the usual tropes of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, but Breath to Bear also covers family, friends, redemption, and renewal, issues so many of us faced even though the closest we’ve gotten to the music biz is our Spotify lists. Dombrowiak definitely knows her stuff when it comes to the world of rock and roll, and she builds characters that are complex and enthralling. Breath to Bear is a worthy successor to Blood and Bone.
Warm, sunny weather, sandy beaches, and the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. These may be a few things you conjure up when you think of Southern California. But in Kelly Sather’s award-winning collection of stories, Small in Real Life, she tells tales that show a much more gritty reality of the Golden State. Some of the characters in Small in Real Life work in show business, and others are wannabes drawn to the promise of fame and fortune of Hollywood. And other characters are living lives far from those tired, yet true tropes of California. And all of them are an interesting narrative to tell.
Small in Real Life starts out strong with The Spaniard. Jenny is just about to turn sixteen when she gets sick at school. Nobody is able to reach her parents, so she is given bus fare and goes back home via the RTD. Yes, Los Angeles has public transportation. When Jenny gets home a strange man is there with her mother. Due to this man’s European accent, Jenny deems him The Spaniard. Why is this man in their house? Why is Jenny’s mother being so coy? Is The Spaniard and her mother having an affair? Jenny infers that they are, and she believes she can blackmail her mother into buying her a car for her upcoming 16th birthday, and if not, Jenny will tattle to her father about her mother’s dalliance with The Spaniard. But Jenny’s mother remains unfazed. Will this transgression be the end of Jenny’s parents’ marriage?
Betrayal is also a theme in Handbag Parade. Stephanie and Carol often meet at the home of their mutual friend, Gia. Gia is in the last throes of ALS; her tragic death is imminent. All three of them met early in their careers working low-level jobs at a Hollywood agency. Not one of them became an agent, but Gia found the most success of them all, and now she’s trapped in a frozen body. Stephanie begins to steal Gia’s collection of high end designer hand bags, and thusly, blames Gia’s nurse, Esme, for the thievery, putting Esme’s vocation on the line. Stephanie betrays a friend and bears false witness against an innocent woman. Handbag Parade show truly conveys how friendship can tragically lead to heartbreak and disloyalty.
In God’s Work an LA judge somehow ends up on a date with a failed actress turned make-up artist. The way this judge describes this woman you can tell he thinks she’s beneath him. He speaks disdainfully of her low-cut sweater and clumped up mascara. But is this an actual date or something quite else when the judge makes a startling confession, and somehow thinks him being a judge may be in her favor. But will it?
So many of the stories that make up Small In Real Life are gripping portraying people from all walks of life going through their day to day activities in the Golden State. Some get close to the glittering images Hollywood promises, but never quite grab that brass ring. Others are in the gallows. And then there are those who revel in the underbelly.
Small In Real Life made me think of the Hollywood sign. It looms over the land in large capital letters. It seems to promise fame and fortune and glamour. But closer and you’ll probably see decay, graffiti, and litter strewn about showing the true messiness and disappointment of real life.
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In Jessie Gaynor’s novel, The Glow, protagonist Jane Dorner is in a funk; her life seems to be going nowhere. Though Jane had aspirations of being a poet, she ended up dropping out of her grad program, and is now working in public relations for a New York City firm. Working in public relations may sound glamorous and lucrative, but Jane can barely care about her work and her output is slipshod at best.
And on top of her less than exciting job, Jane is now without a boyfriend after a break up and due to an emergency surgery, Jane is now drowning in medical debt (something I bet a lot of my fellow Americans can relate to). Jane is trying to hold onto her job so she can pay off her nearly six figure medical debt.
Needing a boost to her career, Jane seeks out something to inspire her so she can publicize it and perhaps save her job. And Jane thinks she’s found the perfect thing when she discovers Fort Path, a wellness retreat. At the helm of Fort Path, is Cass. Cass is beautiful, ethereal, and has a huge following on social media. Her Instagram passages promise wellness, healing, and the ultimate journey of self-fulfillment. Jane is drawn to both Fort Path and Cass, and she believes if she can connect with both of them, she will find not only a higher state of being, she will also amplify her career and keep her job.
Jane makes a sojourn to Fort Path. At first she has a hard time fitting in with the retreat’s strict diet and weird rituals, which includes group masturbation and refraining from showering. But still, Jane can’t help but be drawn to Cass. Cass just radiates self-confidence, wholeness, and true enlightenment. Perhaps if Jane follows Cass and Fort Path’s strict guideline, she, too, will achieve these lofty goals.
Whereas Cass may be the face and inspiration for Fort Path, it is her husband, Tom, who handles the business side of running the retreat. Jane gets closer to Cass and Tom, and often wonders about their marriage, especially since Tom doesn’t exactly seem 100% straight. Is it true love or a marriage of convenience. And once Jane loses her PR job, and finagles her way into a job with Fort Path, she finds out more and more about Cass and Tom’s marriage and the behind the scenes of running Fort Path.
Jane comes up with a plan. She figures with her public relations experience, she feels she can sell Fort Path on a grander scale (even if she herself, isn’t a true believer of Fort Path’s mission and practices). If Jane can put Fort Path on the wellness map and make Cass a major health guru on par with Gwyneth Paltrow and Goop. And to do this, Jane does some rather nefarious and less than savory things that are more about making the big bucks and exploiting Cass, Tom, and Fort Path than actually doing something positive for the the two of them, the retreat, and its clients. Will Jane make Fort Path a health and wellness a huge success and become a huge success herself? Or will everything tumble like a house of Tarot cards?
The Glow is a fascinating look at the rarified world of wellness and the people involved even though some of these people aren’t exactly good people. Sure, Cass and Tom may have an odd marriage. And I’m not a fan of Cass’s dietary and hygienic habits, but for the most part these are two well-meaning characters who are sympathetic.
However, Jane is a walking red flag. Though I empathize with her work and money troubles, I found her behavior towards Cass and Tom, and Fort Path to be appalling. Her exploitation is truly offensive. But I wondered is she truly an awful person or is her behavior due to the huge pressures, challenges, and set backs she has dealt. And I also questioned if our seeking out of enlightenment and a better life via a wellness retreat, a yoga class, or a candle smelling like Gwyneth Paltrow’s vagina is a panacea for the true systematic obstacles problems we face in modern society. The Glow prompts us to think a bit about those things.
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