Guest Review: When Harriet Came Home by Coleen Kwan

Posted December 5, 2011 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 1 Comment

Judith’s review of When Harriet Came Home by Coleen Kwan.

After ten years of exile, Harriet Brown is back in town. Things have definitely changed, but so has she. Now the confident owner of a catering business, she’s no longer the shy, overweight girl everyone—including her hot teenage crush—used to ignore. In fact, she’s determined to make peace with Adam Blackstone for her part in exposing his father’s secret affairs and corrupt behavior as mayor.

But Adam has changed as well. No longer a pampered, rich pinup boy, he just wants to reestablish his family’s good name. He reluctantly agrees to a truce with Harriet, and is surprised by how changed she is. He doesn’twant to be drawn to her, but he can’t seem to resist her allure.

As Harriet struggles to come to terms with her past, her adolescent infatuation with Adam morphs into something more serious… Will she ever be accepted again? Or will ancient history ruin the chance of a future full of possibilities?

Life is full of surprises, not the least of which are the changes that occur to most of us between the ages of 15 to 25 years. For many, those adolescent years are painful and the slurs and insults of others often leave wounds that take forever to heal, if ever. Our self-image later in life can often be hooked to those wounds, for most of us seldom see ourselves as others see us. I marvel at how well I remember some of the slurs of my high school years and when I stop to think that through carefully, it really is silly to keep on allowing the cruelty of unthinking teens to continue to even be “heard” inside our heads.

Not only to the old wounds affect one’s self-image, they often are self-imposed as in Harriet’s case. She did what she believed to be right, for reasons no one bothered to investigate, and while the man in question never chided her for the ultimate fall-out, his son, Adam, bore the brunt of the downfall and carried the anger around like a personal treasure. Now Harriet has returned to her home town–beautiful, svelte, successful–and Adam, the former rich man’s son–the privileged and gorgeous “prince” of teen society–has now become a builder who is intent on restoring his family’s good name. Harriet Brown is the last person he wants to see.

I found this story to be quite compelling because it felt so familiar, based on situations, feelings, conversations, and prejudices that are far more common than any of us would like to admit. There was a deep sense of sadness in me as I read about Harriet’s history, her unwillingness to face the people who had made who think so little of herself. Only her love for her ailing dad was strong enough to get her to brave the continued harsh attitudes directed toward her–all for bringing corruption to light. But there is more to the story than that, and a sense of discovery seemed to hover on each page. I had the feeling from the very start of the story that there was something–may a number of issues–going on that no one knew about, reasons for Harriet bringing Adam’s dad’s misbehavior and criminal activity to light that no one seemed interested in knowing. And there was that feeling that no matter how hard Harriet worked to better herself, that she really hadn’t figured out that she didn’t need to concern herself about the attitudes and expectations of these people who seemed determined to think ill of her.

This is the first work by this author that I have encountered and I was impressed with her writing prowess. The story moved along at a nice pace and the secondary characters were impressive in that they formed a good backdrop for Harriet and Adam’s story without taking over. My curiosity was piqued and I am going to have to do some investigation of this author and find out more about her. Her story seemed to indicate a mature awareness of these kinds of snarls that can poison relationships, especially when people close themselves off as they nurture old angers. I was impressed with Harriet as a professional that in spite of her sense that she could never measure up, that there was no way Adam would ever view her past actions in a positive light, she didn’t give up–not only for her own sake because she was having to admit that her feelings for Adam were really far more than a girlish crush, but because her dad wanted her to triumph over the hurts of the past and once again find her place within her hometown society. And was she not a great role model as a fictional heroine? She was willing to push her own limits and discover her own measure as a professional, even if it meant that she might fail. That’s truly a “plucky” person.

This is a recent release by Carina Press and was a very nice read. I hope you will check it out.

I give this work a rating of 4 out of 5.

You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place.

This book is available from Carina Press. You can buy it here or here in e-format.