The Underside of Joy - Dirty Maid Adventures

The Underside of Joy
by Seré Prince Halverson
1 Kings 3:16-28, the Bible tells of a story of two women fighting over who was the the mother of one living child.
The case was brought before King Solomon, who said he would cut the baby in two, so both women would have
the child. One of the women yelled out, "Please, my Lord, give her the living baby! Don't kill him!" After the
woman yelled this out he handed her the baby proclaiming, she was indeed the child's mother (NIV).
The Underside of Joy is a heart-wrenching story of two mothers fighting over 'their' children. Ella Beene and Joe
Capozzi have made a wonder and caring home for Annie and Zach. Filled with love and surrounded by Joe's big
Italian family. One looking in from the outside would never guess that Ella is the stepmother, because in every
single way she is their real...and only mother.
Paige Capozzi, the children's biological mother couldn't handle the stress of motherhood. Soon after having Zach,
she just checked out. As far as everyone knew she hadn't even bothered to send the kids cards or called to see
how they were doing. Joe divorced her shortly after he met Ella, who openly welcomed motherhood. And for three
years Joe and Ella seemed to have it all. It all ended one summer morning in '99.
Suddenly, Joe is gone and Ella is on her own with the kids, helping them to deal with their grief. When out of
nowhere, Paige turns up. She is ready to take her children back and is ready to fight for them as their biological
mother. Ella's world is turned even more upside than she thought possible, as Paige begins making outrageous
claims about Joe. Two women fighting over the children they believe to be theirs. The Underside of Joy will have
you asking yourself...what makes a mother, but wait to make judgement because you might not have the whole
story.
The Underside of Joy is Seré Prince Halverson debut novel. This one had be grabbing for the kleenex over and
over and over again! But don't worry you won't be crying long, because you won't hardly be able to put it down!
I absolutely LOVED this book! I mean it really plays with the heartstrings. I'm not a stepmother, but I know without
a doubt if I was I would be just as much a mama bear as I would be with my biological children making me relate
to Ella...and if someone was with my biological children no matter who she was or how wonderful she was to my
children, well she wouldn't be me and I would fight like crazy for them, so I could relate on some level to Paige!
What a story! And what I've written about today is only the first layer of this amazing story! That's right there is so
much more, so much deeper. Ella really walks through some serious stuff to find her way to the end. I have only
good things about this book, it was amazing! This is a book I know I will be sharing with the women in my life!|The
Underside Of Joy
by
Sere Prince Halverson
My Thoughts...
I started crying on page 14...I wish I could tell you why but when you read it you will understand why it's best that
you find out for yourself.
This very sad event is what is the heart of this story which is not so much a story of sadness but a story of hope.
But you have to live through all of the sadness to experience what is on the other side.
Oh...there is sadness but there is also so much more. Characters are shared, explained, challenged and then they
grow. This is so much a story of more than one family that hid its secrets and its sorrows and put them in boxes
and under beds and in closets and just wished them to disappear. And of course that never happens...a family is
destroyed but hopefully it is able to sort of reprogram itself from the ashes.
Ella Bean sort of falls into this loving wonderful extended Italian family. She marries into it and becomes Mommy
to Annie and Zack. She has suffered through five miscarriages and one divorce and this family is ready made for
her. They are her life...she is the mommy. Then...Annie and Zack's mother comes back after a three year absence
and wants them back. Ella...just the stepmother...has no real rights to them. But she loves them and they love her...
and she is willing to do whatever she can to remain...mommy.
This is a beautifully told story set in a beautiful little town in Northern California. Lots of redwoods and vineyards
and small town celebrations and a lovely old Italian grocery store that Ella must save. Food descriptions
abound...you will want a picnic basket and wine to sip and cheeses and breads and salads and Eggplant Parmesan
to nibble on...you will crave a garden and chickens and a wonderful dog named Callie and two kittens named
Thing 1 and Thing 2.
This book is lovely and sad and beautiful and so well written that you will spend your day on a sofa in a sunroom
with a kitty on your lap reading reading reading until you find out what happens to everyone and if Ella will be ok
and if Zack will grow up and if there will be happiness at the end of this magnificently told journey.
I loved this book. Totally.|I am so glad I was able to get a preview copy of this book. The Underside of Joy is
beautifully written. Once I started, I couldn’t put it down until I finished it. And now I can’t stop thinking about and
missing the characters. It’s about grief and love and marriage and motherhood and step-motherhood (really aren’t
they the same?). It’s about family and all the ways we’re shaped by past generations and how our choices and
actions shape future generations.
Ella is a woman who can’t have any kids. After a failed marriage, she falls in love with Joe and his two young
children, whose mom abandoned them three years before. When Joe drowns, Ella starts to find out he kept a lot
of things to himself. His grocery store is failing. The ex-wife (the kids’ mom) starts appearing. Ella’s grieving, but
she can’t really take the time she needs because she’s trying to save the store and fight for her family. She realizes
she has lived her life on the surface.I think a lot of people live like that. But Ella discovers that that kind of selfdeception leads to a thin, fragile kind of happiness.
The author manages to deliver a page-turner with gorgeous prose and fully developed characters who are each
drowning in their own way. This story felt so real. I want to live in the town of Elbow with its quirky ItalianAmericans, fascinating history, and natural beauty .
drowning in their own way. This story felt so real. I want to live in the town of Elbow with its quirky ItalianAmericans, fascinating history, and natural beauty .
I LOVED this book and highly recommend it. We’ve already chosen it for our book club in January. There’s a lot
here to think about and discuss.
|The Underside of Joy is a touching story of happiness and sorrow, motherhood and family. After fleeing her
broken marriage, Ella stumbles upon her soul mate in the tiny town of Elbow, California. Dazzled by Joe's good
looks and the gorgeous children in his arms, Ella can hardly believe her luck and after a whirlwind courtship she is
happily ensconced in family life. Then one morning, just three years later, Joe doesn't come home and Ella's
perfect world comes crashing down. At his funeral Joe's ex wife appears demanding access to the children she
abandoned and Ella begins to unravel the secrets her husband had kept from her. Terrified of losing everything,
Ella has to make some hard decisions and can only hope they are the right ones for the children she calls her own.
I was drawn to The Underside of Joy by the intriguing premise and the promise of an interesting conflict between
two women who both consider themselves mothers of the same children. Halverson touches upon some
important issues in this novel including postnatal depression, infertility, child custody and the role of step mothers.
In a broader sense the themes ask the reader to consider if honesty is always best, what are the limits of love and
asks how we define a family. These are highly emotive issues and The Underside of Joy treats them sensitively. I
connected with this book and it's characters, on an emotional level, I was caught up in the drama and was
prompted to wonder what I would consider to be best for the children.
I do have a few small complaints, though they didn't really occur to me until after I had finished the novel. The
children are just a little too precocious for their age, the characters are weighted towards stereotypes (the Italian
mama, the reclusive artist, the trailer park crazy and the gay foodie) and the plot is a tad predictable. Still, it is to
Halverson's credit that it made absolutely no difference to me while I was reading because I was so emotionally
invested in the story.
Unexpectedly there is also a subplot in the Underside of Joy that speaks to the little known internment of Italian
Americans along with Japanese Americans during WW2 which is fascinating and fits surprisingly well into the
themes of the plot.
The story of The Underside of Joy contrasts two women who both want the same thing, three year old Zach and
six year old Annie. Ella has nurtured them for three years and considers them her children. Paige gave birth to
them and though once she thought it best to remove herself from their lives, she wants them back.
Ella's pain at the loss of her husband is raw with the sadness, anger and confusion you would expect from a
grieving wife, which is magnified when she discovers her husbands secrets. I liked Ella a lot, even when I was
tempted to judge her for what can be construed as willful ignorance, as she never really wanted details about the
children's mother or Joe's business. I feel Halverson created a well developed protagonist in Ella, she is flawed and
contradictory but that is what makes her real. She makes mistakes but ultimately tries to do what's right, and takes
steps to recover her fragile sense of self - seeing a lawyer, re-imagining the business. Naturally Ella is immediately
sympathetic as she loves Zach and Annie so deeply.
I was ready to feel outraged at Paige's demands for her children after she had left them, just a tiny baby and a
three year old, with barely a backward glance but as Halverson slowly reveals the circumstances of her desertion I
became more sympathetic. Paige isn't as substantial in character as Ella but because this is really Ella's story it
doesn't matter too much. It's enough that we get her truth so that we are able to consider an alternative side of
the story.
Both Ella and Paige are very much affected by their respective pasts, both touched by tragedy they are swayed by
childhood patterns of thinking and behaviour. For both women, Joe's death is the catalyst for them to make peace
with their legacy.
The supporting characters also have their own stories, including David, Joe's brother, who was overlooked to
inherit the family store, and Liz who snubs Ella in allegiance to her past friendship with Paige. I also loved the
setting, being a sucker for small towns with a real sense of community, which Halverson captures with evocative
imagery.
The Underside of Joy is an emotionally compelling story and an impressive debut by Sere Prince Halverson.
Poignant and thought provoking it captures the trials of motherhood, the intimate bonds of family and the
indeed, the underside of joy.|Um livro cujo título é bastante enganador relativamente à estória que apresenta. Eu,
pelo menos, supus que fosse algo a puxar para o romance lamechas mas a verdade é que é muito mais que isso.
Mais uma vez lembro as editoras para os títulos que escolhem para as versões dos livros. Este passar-me-ia ao
indeed, the underside of joy.|Um livro cujo título é bastante enganador relativamente à estória que apresenta. Eu,
pelo menos, supus que fosse algo a puxar para o romance lamechas mas a verdade é que é muito mais que isso.
Mais uma vez lembro as editoras para os títulos que escolhem para as versões dos livros. Este passar-me-ia ao
lado se não lesse a sinopse e me baseasse apenas e só no título...
Entremeado com momentos da actualidade e flashbacks temporais, esta obra faz-nos pensar com, intensidade e
profundidade, nas relações humanas. Ali não vi nada que pudesse ser domínio da fantasia. Poderia ser o dilema
de qualquer uma da nós: Mulheres, Mães, Madrastas, Amigas.
Apesar de a escrita ser bastante fluída por diversas vezes voltei a reler passagens. Não porque não as entendesse
mas para poder absorver melhor o significado de certas expressões, a que me dei ao trabalho de registar num
caderno. Faço isso com passagens de livros que, de uma forma ou de outra, me tocam. E este tocou.
Ao longo de todo o livro, considerei Ella e a Paige Mães. E novamente me vem à memória o ditado
Parir é dor, criar é Amor
, pese embora os traumas decorrentes duma infância conturbada, na pessoa de uma delas. Aqui faz todo o
sentido esse ditado. Não nego que, desde início, tomei partido de uma das Mães. E quase vivi o drama dela como
se fosse eu: entendi a sua angústia, a sua ansiedade, o seu medo de que todo um esforço, outra conjunto e agora
a solo, fosse em vão. Na parte final do livro ainda vacilei e o seu fim acaba por ser o óbvio mas até lá chegar muita
reflexão nos possibilita este livro na forma
E se fosse eu?...
É um livro que vale a pena por isso. Noutros, alguns dilemas são-nos colocados de forma algo fantasiosa mas
aqui, tanto as personagens como as vivências e os conflitos que se desenrolam, podiam ser perfeitamente reais...