SUCH A PRETTY FACE

SUCH A PRETTY FACE by Cathy Lamb

From the book flap:

Two years and 170 pounds ago, Stevie Barrett wash wheeled into an operating room for surgery that most likely saved her life.  Since that day, a new Stevie has emerged, one who walks without wheezing, plants a garden for self-therapy, and builds and paints fantastical wooden chairs.  At thirty-five, Stevie is the one thing she never thought she'd be:  thin.

But for everything that's changed, some things remain the same.  Stevie's shyness refuses to melt away.  She still can't look her gorgeous neighbor in the eye.  The Portland law office where she works remains utterly dysfunctional, as does her family - the aunt, uncle, and cousins who took her in when she was a child.  To top it off, her once supportive best friend clearly resents her weight loss.

By far the biggest challenge in Stevie's new life lies in figuring out how to define her new self.  Collaborating with her cousins to plan her aunt and uncle's problematic fortieth anniversary party, Stevie starts to find some surprising answers - about who she is, who she wants to be, and how the old Stevie evolved in the first place.  And with each revelation, she realizes the most important part of her transformation may not be what she's lost, but the courage and confidence she's gathering, day by day.

As achingly honest as it is witty, Such a Pretty Face is a richly insightful novel of one woman's search for love, family, and acceptance, of the pain we all carry - and the wonders that can happen when we let it go at last.

Another fantastic book!  The above synopsis of the book makes it sound interesting, but that's not all the book is about.  It fails to give an idea into where Stevie's problems started - which is told in the prologue of the book.  Since you would read this in the first few pages, I'll tell you here.  Stevie's mother, Helen, threw ten-year-old Stevie and her little sister, Sunshine, off a bridge into a rushing river and then jumped in herself.  Stevie, obviously, survived - her mother and sister didn't.

Add to that tragedy the deaths of her beloved grandparents and being sent to live with her horrible uncle and his family - no wonder Stevie had so many emotional problems in her life.

Ms. Lamb tackled many difficult issues in this book - obesity, anorexia, mental illness, abuse, death, grieving.  With all these deep situations, you would think the book would be a downer.  But it's not.  It's an uplifting story of how one woman faces her problems, little by little, and learns how to recognize love again.

I've read all of Ms. Lamb's books, and can't wait for the next one to come out!