Families are often messy and Ruby’s family in Sunset Lake Resort by Joanne Jackson is no exception. When we first meet Ruby, she is sixty-something and has been largely cut out of her wealthy architect father’s will in favour of his much younger trophy wife. Instead, Ruby has been left with a small chunk of cash and a run-down lakefront cabin. Equally unexpectedly, Ruby’s husband of many years walks away from their marriage once he realizes that she has not inherited the millions he was anticipating.
Having spent the bulk of her adult life unhappily, Ruby reflects on her personal situation:
For the past thirty-five years, I’ve tolerated my marriage for the simple reason I’m afraid to face the world alone. There have been joyful days, like when my mother held my babies for the first time, or when my own grandchildren were born, but more hard days than happy. Days when I couldn’t stop think about what my life would have been like had I been more courageous, instead of settling for what I thought would be an easier life. Days when I wondered what it would be like to be independent, able to come and go as I pleased without having to answer to anyone. Days when I couldn’t hide my disappointment in the path I’d chosen.
After a period of grief and shock, Ruby decides that it is not too late to do something with her life that provides genuine satisfaction, and it is her journey as she develops the confidence and life skills to become independent that is at the heart of this book. Readers will cheer her progress as she takes control, learns to drive, makes her own decisions and develops meaningful relationships with new friends.
I know I made the right decision. This is where I’m supposed to be. In all my life I can’t remember ever having as strong a feeling as this, not even on my wedding day when I had second thoughts practically as soon as I said the words ‘I do’. With the birth of my children, the world seemed to straighten out and I was happy for a few years, until the nagging feeling that this was not my life’s calling began to surface again. I felt at loose ends, unfinished, like a meal half made, a lawn half mowed, or a house painted only as high as one could reach from the ground. The minute Chip and I walked inside this cabin last fall, even through all the mould and rot, it’s almost as if it told me I was home; that after all my years of feeling lost, of not knowing where I belonged, I’d finally found my purpose.
The property she has inherited turns out to be a dilapidated beach resort with extensive acreage, worth two million dollars. Using her share of money from the sale of the family home, she decides to renovate one of the cabins in order to live there. Ruby hires a local contractor and befriends the residents of the small nearby town. As the story unfolds, we also learn a little of Ruby’s father and his history as an orphaned child who was never adopted, as well as something of the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of the previous owner of the resort. The enigmatic Missy, a shadowy character who befriends and encourages Ruby, also plays a key role.
As the narrative continues, rumours abound about buried treasures, ghosts, unrequited love, and dysfunctional families. While Ruby seizes control of her own situation, she also wrests herself from her ex-husband’s power over her, and his attempts to undermine and dominate her. In the embrace and support of her new community, Ruby is able to re-establish healthy relations with her children and grandchildren. A charming tale filled with hopefulness, well-drawn characters, and a satisfying story arc. Recommended.
Joanne Jackson is an award winning author of three novels. Her most recent, ‘A Snake in the Raspberry Patch,’ was the winner of Best Crime Novel set in Canada for 2023, and short listed for Saskatchewan Book Awards 2023. Her first novel, ‘The Wheaton‘ was released in 2019, and her forthcoming novel, ‘Sunset Lake Resort‘, is set to be released spring of 2024. Joanne lives in Saskatoon with her husband, Tom, and an old border collie named Mick. If you keep your eyes peeled you will see Joanne and her dog walking come rain, shine, snow, or whatever weather Saskatchewan throws at them. Website: https://www.joannejackson.ca
Publisher: Stonehouse Publishing (June 1, 2024)
Paperback 8″ x 5″ | 311 pages
ISBN: 9781988754567
Lucy E.M. Black (she/her/hers) is the author of The Marzipan Fruit Basket, Eleanor Courtown, Stella’s Carpet and The Brickworks. Her new short story collection, Class Lessons: Stories of Vulnerable Youth will be released October 2024. Her award-winning short stories have been published in Britain, Ireland, USA and Canada. She is a dynamic workshop presenter, experienced interviewer and freelance writer. She lives with her partner in the small lakeside town of Port Perry, Ontario, the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island, First Nations.
