Arts & Entertainment
Teen Girl Struggles When Dad Deployed
A book review of 'Alice Bliss,' a for-our-times story of a girl trying to be there for her mom and sister in dad's place. She also wrestles with romance, cliques, sports and other staples of adolescence. Reviewed by Greta Ulrich.
Alice Bliss by Laura Harrington Review by Greta Ulrich
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When teenager Alice Bliss discovers that her father is being deployed overseas to Iraq to serve with the Army reserves she know she will miss him but doesn’t yet know how hard his absence will be for her and her small family. Matt Bliss made sure that his older daughter knew how to plant a garden and take care of herself but he is also counting on her to take care of her mother and her little sister.
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Alice Bliss is Laura Harrington’s first novel and it reads beautifully. All the characters are fully developed and the reader really cares about them and their problems. The teenage angst Alice feels rings true, and her mother’s loneliness after her husband leaves for Iraq is movingly described. The struggle a mom who is forced to become a single parent endures while her husband is away is poignantly described.
Alice has a wonderful best friend, her life-long buddy Henry. They had always thought of each other as just friends but as Alice begins to rely more on Henry now that her dad is overseas, their friendship starts to take on more of a romantic note. Alice’s Uncle Eddy tried to help her but he knows he is not much help with romantic advice. He is a bachelor who has never been able to commit to a woman. Though he relishes his role as the “cool uncle” and as a protector to his younger sister and her daughters, he knows his place in their lives has it limits.
Alice decides she needs to have new hobby to work off some of her energy and anger while her father is gone. She joins the high school track team and begins to make new friends to replace some of the cliquey girls she has grown away from.
This novel is beautifully written and is certainly relevant for our times. Alice Bliss is available for checkout at the Niles Public Library District.
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