When It Happens To You - Molly Ringwald

A mother grapples with age, infertility and an increasingly distant husband as everything she thought she knew is turned upside down.

An elderly woman mourns the loss of her husband, finding an odd friendship with a young girl who cannot possibly understand her loss.

A single mother finds the strength to protect her flamboyant six-year old son as he finds his way in life.

These stories follow the hazardous terrain of everyday life, revealing the deceptions, heartbreak, and vulnerability familiar to us all.

When it happens to you is an unflinching yet poignant examination of the intricacies of the human heart and an auspicious literary debut.



Published by: Simon & Schuster UK - Fiction
Year: 2013 - Paperback
Pages: 380
ISBN: 978-1-47111-349-9

Molly Ringwald's 'When it happens to you' is made up of a series of short stories.  Each story introduces you to the main character/s and each character  is linked to the previous or subsequent story in someway and ultimately  all characters are somehow linked to all the stories. Hope that makes sense.  

It has been very cleverly written in such a way that you get to meet the main characters within the story, for example in Harvest Moon you meet Greta, her husband Phillip and their daughter Charlotte. Having conceived Charlotte without complication. Six years on they have been unable to conceive a second child and have sought medical help in the way of IVF and all the stresses and strains this can put on the strongest of relationships.  In the second you are introduced to Isle O'Hara Greta's mother who still after all these years grieves for the son she lost in a driving accident. In the subsequent stories you are introduced to Marina a single mother and to her eccentric son Oliver who from around the age of four wants to be a girl. Peter Layton whose longest relationship was with a polar bear called Pooka. Betty who is a widow unable to accept the death of her husband Harry,  and lives next door to Charlotte's family and Amanda, Betty's daughter and her partner.  Throughout all the stories there is a common thread of betrayal, lies and deceit and that through all of this it is hoped that all the lives affected within each of the stories will eventually find harmony and happiness.

Very well written by Molly Ringwald best known as a Hollywood A-lister and fast becoming as well known for her literary talents as well as her acting ones.  I would certainly recommend this as a good read and will add to the list of authors whose work I will look out for in the future. 

When it Happens to You is the fifth book from my challenge to read the 13 out of 26 books that were in residence on my book shelf at Christmas by the end of June so almost but not quite half way. 

Happy reading one and all.

Mx